Promises, Promises
by intense-tardis-noise
Summary: Dean Winchester and Castiel Novak have been friends since forever. When Dean has to move away before second grade, it breaks Castiel's heart. After several years, Castiel finally learns how to live without Dean in his life. What happens, though, when a certain ruffian makes a surprise reappearance 8 years later? Is it too late for Dean to fix things that were so broken?
1. Prologue

Castiel and Dean sat together under their favorite tree. They looked in front of them, not saying anything for a long time.

Finally, Castiel spoke.

"Do you really have to move, Dean?" he asked softly, as if hoping the desperation in his voice would somehow stop the inevitable from happening.

"I wish I didn't, Cas," Dean replied, turning his gaze further away. "But this promotion is really important to my dad, and to my family. But California isn't too far away from here."

"It's all the way across the country, Dean," Castiel said sadly.

"It could be all the way across the world, though," Dean said with a soft laugh, trying to lighten the mood. Castiel only gave a sad sigh in response.

"I don't want to go into the second grade without you, Dean. If I get bullied, you won't be there to protect me anymore..."

"If you get bullied, I'll walk back by myself and personally kick them in the butt for you, Cas."

Finally Castiel let out a small giggle. Dean laughed with him. They sat for a few more minutes, until they heard Dean's mother calling his name.

They both stood up, and looked at each other for the first time since they had gotten to the tree.

"I guess... this is goodbye then," Castiel said, his eyes glossy from tears that were beginning to form.

"Not goodbye, Cas. Just... see you later."

Castiel smiled and hugged Dean. "Okay... see you later, Dean."

"See you later, Cas."

The boys didn't stop hugging until Dean's mother called his name again. Dean hopped on his bike and rode home, slower than he usually did. Once Dean was out of sight, Castiel picked up his own bike and rode home in the other direction, his eyes stinging from the tears that he was trying to not cry. He eventually arrived home and walked inside, sniffling quietly. His mother turned from the stove when she heard the front door open.

"Cassie, is that you?" she called.

"It's me mom," Castiel responded.

"Go upstairs and get your brother. The Winchesters are going to be over soon for dinner."

Castiel's heart leapt. Dean was coming over for dinner? So that wasn't goodbye just now! It really was see you later.

Castiel excitedly ran up the stairs and grabbed on Luke's shirt. He was in the middle of writing a paper for one of his classes. He groaned and pulled off his headphones.

"Come on, Cas, we can play later. I'm busy right now."

"Dinner is soon! Mom said get ready!"

Luke smiled. "Oh yeah, forgot the Winchesters were heading this way."

He stood up and stretched. "Alright, short stack, I'll be down in a couple minutes."

Cas grinned at him before running back downstairs. He was just in time for the door bell to ring. He ran to the door and threw it open to see Dean and his parents, holding a very tiny Sam in their hands. Castiel's mom came to the door behind him and smiled.

"John, Mary, it's so good to see you all one more time before the move," Mrs. Novak said, pulling them each into hugs. "Come in, come in. Dinner is almost ready!"

Castiel absolutely rejoiced in being surrounded by all of his favorite people in the world. It made the fact that starting tomorrow he wouldn't be able to go to Dean's house anymore only… slightly less painful. But eventually, the time came, and the Winchesters had to get ready to go. Castiel had begged and begged both Dean's parents and his own to let Dean spend the night one more time, but the Winchesters had to leave very early in the morning. Dean turned to Castiel and gave him a sad look.

"I'm sorry, Cas," he said, pulling him into a tight hug. "I promise I'll be back before you know it."

Castiel hugged back even tighter? "Promise?"

"I promise."

The Winchesters left and in the morning when Castiel went for a bike ride, their house was completely barren, with nothing but a haunting for-sale sign blowing lazily in the early morning wind.

With his eyes blurred with tears, Castiel turned around and went home. He didn't want to feel.


	2. One

It was the first day of second grade. Castiel was walking home from his bus stop, with a black eye and bruises covering his arms. Dean didn't come back and kick anyone's butt for him; but he did send Castiel a letter promising he'd be home as soon as possible.

On Castiel's first day of third grade, he was walking home with another black eye, and a broken wrist. Dean still didn't come back. But he called Castiel on the phone, promising once again he'd come home soon.

On Castiel's first day of fourth grade, he was walking home with a black eye, some cuts on his arms, and two new friends at either shoulder. Dean still hadn't come back. Castiel called Dean's home phone. Dean's father answered. Dean was busy. Castiel's new friends watched as he sadly hung up the phone.

Castiel's first day of fifth grade was the first time he was walking home with a smile on his face. He was walking home with his two friends. He was so excited to tell Dean about his good day. Castiel called Dean's home phone. Dean's father answered. Dean was still busy. Castiel's friends watched again as Castiel sadly hung up the phone.

On Castiel's first day of middle school, he walked home alone, bruises on his back after being shoved into some lockers. His friends were in after school detention for standing up for Castiel. Well… for punching the guys who shoved him into the lockers. Castiel called Dean's home phone. Dean's father answered, and gave Castiel Dean's cell phone number. Castiel called Dean's cell phone. They talked for a few minutes; Dean told Castiel that he missed him. Castiel told Dean that he missed him too. Dean had to go do homework. He said talk to you later and then hung up.

For a while Dean and Castiel texted back and forth. But then one day, Dean read Castiel's messages and stopped responding. Eventually, Castiel stopped texting him.

On Castiel's first day of seventh grade, he walked home alone, with no visible injuries. He had been told that he was worthless and he should just kill himself. He didn't know why the kids at school hated him so much. Castiel called Dean's cell phone. It went to voicemail. Castiel left a message in a broken voice before he fell onto his bed and cried himself to sleep.

Dean never did call him back, or text him to ask if he was okay.

On Castiel's first day of eighth grade, he did not go to school. He was in the hospital after a nearly successful suicide attempt. His two friends sat with him in the hospital along with Castiel's parents. They all held hands and cried softly while Castiel slept. When Castiel woke up, they celebrated.

The first thing Castiel did was call Dean's cell phone. It went to voicemail. Castiel opened his mouth to leave a message, but one of Castiel's friends ripped the phone from his hands. Castiel sobbed as the end button was pressed. His friends pulled him into their arms and told him that everything was going to be okay.

They were always going to be there for him. They were never going to ignore his texts or his calls.

On Castiel's first day of ninth grade, he felt normal. Nobody approached him. He and his friends walked about as though they were invisible. It was the happiest Castiel had been in a long time. Castiel did not call Dean's cell phone. Dean was no longer in Castiel's contacts. About a year ago, Castiel's friends insisted that he could not be happy until he let go of this poison.

They were right.

It was the first day of Castiel's sophomore year of high school. Life was going pretty smoothly at this point. He wasn't dating anyone, but that was really the way he liked it. He was doing very well in all of his classes, and he had good friends. Charlie and Gabe were really great; he'd met Charlie and Gabriel in fourth grade, and they had been good friends ever since.

At lunch, Castiel, Gabe, and another one of their friends Hannah, were all talking excitedly about their summer. Charlie came up and completely changed the subject.

"Hey, Cas, what did Dean look like?"

Castiel was surprised at the question. "Dean? I haven't seen him in ages, I have no idea what he looks like now." Castiel gave her a strange look. "Why are you asking?"

"What did he look like when he was younger? Be vague; eye color, hair color, anything!" she asked, her voice urgent. She kept turning around and staring at someone in the crowd that Castiel couldn't see. He was getting very suspicious.

"Why?"

"Just answer the damn question!"

"Fine, fine. Jesus. He had, like, dirty blond hair, and green eyes, and from what I remember he had a lot of freckles. Now you answer my question: why?"

"There's this new kid in my Media Tech class. His name is Dean, and he looks just like that! Do you think it's him?"

Castiel's heart started pounding.

"Well, it couldn't be," Gabe butted in. "If it _was_ Dean, don't you think he would have said something to Castiel about him coming back?"

"Maybe he wanted to surprise him!" Charlie said defensively.

"Guys, it doesn't matter. We haven't talked in so long, even if it is him, I doubt he remembers who I am. Its fine," Castiel snapped, and Gabe and Charlie dropped it immediately. They all started talking about their summers again. Castiel's mind began to wander.

If Dean had come back and not said anything to him, he swore on his life that he'd never speak to that prick again.

Eventually the lunch bell rang and they broke off to go to their classes. Castiel and Charlie both had English next, so they walked together. When they got to the classroom, they chose two seats close to the back. As people filed into the class, the boy with dirty blond hair and green eyes walked in. Charlie slapped Castiel on the arm.

"Look! That's the guy I was telling you about," she said, her voice an excited whisper.

"You wanna say that again Charlie, I don't think anyone heard you over in China," Castiel snapped, rubbing his arm and looking towards the stranger.

When the blond noticed Charlie, he smiled at her. They must've gotten along well in Media Tech. When he turned and saw Castiel, his face twisted in shock, but he kept walking to sit in a seat diagonally in front of him. Castiel's heart started pounding again. _There is no way that that's my Dean._


	3. Two

"He totally recognized you, Cas," Charlie said, excitedly whispering again. "It's your Dean!"

Castiel turned and gave Charlie a look of disgust. "Well, even if it _is_ him, I don't want anything to do with him. And you shouldn't either. You're the one who deleted his contact from my phone two years ago, remember?"

Charlie sighed. "You're right, Cassie. As always." The last few students scrambled in and sat in their seats as the bell rang. The teacher stood up and made her way to the front of the class.

"Good afternoon, students," she said. "My name is Mrs. Miller, and I will be your English teacher this year. I am going to start off today by calling out the roll."

Charlie's name was third on the roster, and Mrs. Miller called out about 12 other names before she got to Castiel's.

"Castiel Novak..."

"Here," Castiel said coolly. He felt Dean turn and look at him, but he didn't show that he had noticed. Mrs. Miller called 4 more names before...

"Dean Winchester..."

"Present," he said, with a deep husky voice. This time it was Castiel who turned to look at him, and he was met with those emerald-green eyes. Castiel blushed and turned away again. He felt Charlie wiggle next to him, and he knew she'd seen what just happened.

"Not so over him now, are you?" she teased.

 _Shit_.

The next 50 minutes were an absolute hell. Castiel tried his best to not shoot Dean any side glances, but he knew he did at least twice. And both times they made eye contact, and both times Castiel blushed. At the end of the period, Castiel stayed in his seat, waiting for Dean to leave the room so he didn't have to confront him.

Why the hell was life so cruel to him? First it ripped his only friend away from him when he was a kid, and now when he is finally starting to get over that heart break, suddenly he just reappears?

No fucking way.

Castiel had a free period after his English class, so he bolted across the school to the library. There was a little room behind the library that very few students knew about. Which meant that Castiel could hide out here until his next class and decrease his chances of running into Dean any more than he would have to today.

Why was life so fucking cruel?

Before Cas knew it, he had started crying. He always hated how emotional he was. His mom always told him it was good that he didn't feel pressured into the patriarchal standards of emotionlessness that was expected of boys. But he still hated how he cried at damn near anything.

Though, he supposed, if he was going to cry about anything, this was a pretty good excuse. He texted Gabe, unsure of what to do.

 ** _Cas:  
Charlie was right. It is my Dean. 2:26PM_**

Luckily, ever since the incident… Gabe had made a habit of responding almost instantaneously to any and all of Castiel's texts.

 **Gabe:  
Shit, dude. Are you okay? 2:26PM**

Castiel thought for a few minutes.

 ** _Cas:  
Not in the damn slightest. 2:31PM_**

 **Gabe:  
You upstairs? 2:32PM**

 ** _Cas:  
Yeah. 2:32PM_**

 **Gabe:  
I'm omw. 2:34PM**

In the next five minutes, Castiel was laying in Gabe's arms, crying softly. He really didn't understand how he was so overwhelmed after seeing the guy _once_ so far. If he was lucky, English was the only class they had together. Other than that, they would never have to see each other. Castiel wouldn't have to rip out all of the stitches from the wounds that were already taking goddamn forever to heal.

But, life. Was fucking. Cruel.

His next class was pre-calculus, so he was technically a few years ahead of his peers. And sure enough, Winchester was apparently smart too. So, he was the _only_ person that Castiel knew in that class. He had better luck with his last class of the day, but now Castiel would have to spend the rest of the school year trying to avoid this guy in two of his classes. And from the looks that Dean has been giving him all day, avoiding him forever is going to prove to be a difficult task.

Why… why did Dean keep looking at him like that? With such curious, and at the same time such sad eyes. If the dick actually felt sorry, then why the hell did he never reach out? Never even sent a god damn text.

Castiel inwardly cursed as he rushed to a seat in the back of the class. Dean was already in the room, and he hoped that he hid himself well enough. Even if he hadn't, he was sitting on the complete opposite side of the classroom. And this teacher was known to be a hard ass about paying attention in class, so he wouldn't get away with staring at Castiel the whole god damn time.

They eventually made it to the end of the day. Castiel had never been at his locker so fast in his life. He swung it open, grabbed out all the books he needed, and slammed the locker shut. He didn't even attempt to put the books in his bag; he just hauled ass to the parking lot so he could meet up with Gabe and they could get the hell out of there.

Luckily, Gabe was already waiting by Castiel's car once he got there. He finally slowed to only a brisk pace as he fumbled around his pocket to get his car keys out. Gabe gave him a worried look as he approached the car.

"That worried he's gonna try to talk to you, huh?" he asked.

"If he talks to me, I'm done for. I can't let go of something that is latched on to me like that. God, why did he have to come back _now_?!"

Castiel slammed his bag onto the ground and threw his books in before opening the back door and tossing the bag onto the seat. He flopped into his car and started it. Gabe climbed in next to him.

"We can call off work if you aren't feeling it. My dad will understand. You look like the last thing you need is to deal with people right now."

Castiel laughed. "As nice as that would be, if I'm gonna get enough money to run away from here and go to college, I need to go to work."

Gabe laughed. "Well then, I can at least get my parents to make a new 'no Winchesters allowed' rule for the bakery."

"Sounds like a great fucking plan," Castiel said. With that, they drove out of the parking lot and towards the bakery. Meanwhile, Dean had caught up with Charlie. As excited as Charlie was earlier was how intimidating she was now, staring Dean down after he'd asked her a question.

"I _could_ give you Castiel's number. But what right to you have to come in and screw him up even more when you've already inflicted enough damage on him, you know?"

Dean flinched.

"I know I fucked up, Charlie. I know I have no right, and Castiel doesn't owe me anything. But… I at least want to try. I want to try to fix what friendship we had. Because, god damnit… I haven't stopped thinking about him since the day I left."

Charlie's gaze softened when she saw in his eyes the depth of the sincerity in his statements and the sadness in his eyes. She gave Dean Castiel's phone number.

"Just know, Winchester. If you do _anything else_ to hurt him, I'll have your head. The _only_ reason I'm doing this is because I know how much Cas has missed you. And I'm hoping rekindling your friendship will put some of the light back into his eyes. I've missed seeing that… but maybe the person who put the flame out can bring it back."

Dean didn't have time to flinch at that because in a moment Charlie had him pinned against the locker. "So God help you if you fuck this up a second time, Winchester."

He gave a brisk nod; Dean had no doubt that she was deadly serious. But, he didn't let the fear overcome him. Instead, he pulled Charlie into a big hug as soon as she released her grip on him. He whispered a soft 'thank you' before walking away, leaving a completely dumbfounded Charlie behind him.


	4. Three

"Hey, Cas?"

It was the beginning of the day. Castiel could _not_ handle this right now, at 7:30 in the morning. Against every muscle in his body screaming in protest, Castiel turned around and saw those green eyes staring back at him. He prayed that his voice wouldn't betray him when he replied.

"Hi, Dean."

An uncomfortable silence settled over them. Dean could tell that Castiel wanted to be anywhere else but here with him right now. And he hated himself for it. He hated that he made Castiel feel so uncomfortable around him. He wanted things to go back to how they were before. Where they could sit under the tree and talk for hours and hours.

"Never thought I'd run into you again... and now we're going to the same high school."

Castiel nodded and remained silent for a few seconds; the seconds felt like eons.

"When did you move back?"

"About a month ago..." Dean said, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully. "I meant to tell you, but we hadn't talked in so long... I figured I wouldn't bother you with it."

"This is the first time we've talked since we started sixth grade," Castiel said softly, deep in his thoughts. "And it's the first time you've initiated conversation since the third…"

Tears welled in Castiel eyes and suddenly Dean hated himself so much more.

"I'm really sorry Cas... I... I just lost touch, I guess. God, that sounds awful... Do you hate me, Cas?"

Castiel hesitated. "No. I… I wanted to for a really long time. But I don't think I could ever hate you, Dean," Castiel said, meeting his gaze. Those eyes could kill a man if they stared the right way. "I have to get going, I have to get to class."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry to keep you. I'll text you later?"

"Sure."

With that, Castiel closed his locker gently, and headed towards his class. It wasn't until he made it there that he realized Dean didn't have his number to text him in the first place. It was no matter. He was sure even if he did have it, he wouldn't text him first. Didn't seem to be his style. He sat down next to Charlie and tried to keep his mouth shut. He was worried if he opened it too much he would puke.

"Damn, Cas, you look pale as hell. You feeling okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," Castiel mumbled, digging through his bag to pull out a notebook and a pencil. Though, he wasn't exactly sure he was going to be paying much attention to the lecture.

"Did Dean do something?" Castiel wasn't sure if that was a growl he heard in Charlie's voice or if he was just that off.

"Nope. I'm just tired."

Charlie decided to drop it and they sat quietly throughout the rest of the class.

The rest of the day passed without Dean so much as giving Castiel a passing glance, which he supposed he was thankful for. If they could just go on pretending the other didn't exist like they'd done for these past eight years or however long it had been.

But the end of the day rolled around, and Dean approached him again.

"So, I uh…" Dean started, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'm a little behind on this curriculum. It was a bit different back in California."

Castiel continued digging through his locker. "And?" he asked, unphased.

"Well, I um… I saw that you're the head of the tutoring program, so, I was wondering if you could…help me?"

It was obvious that Dean was trying really hard to get them somewhere where they could mend their broken friendship. But Castiel had just started healing. He wasn't going to let Dean drag him back into his pit of despair. He slammed his locker closed.

"I'll see if anyone is available to tutor you, and I'll have them reach out to you. If you don't hear from me by the end of the week, feel free to stop by room 315 any Tuesday or Thursday after school. They do drop-in sessions."

Dean opened his mouth to reply, but Castiel shoved past him and made a beeline for the parking lot. Gabe was waiting by his car. When he saw Castiel, his face immediately filled with concern.

"Cas—"

"No questions, get in the car," he pleaded. He threw his bag into the back before throwing himself into the driver's seat. He slammed his door closed and locked it. He took a deep breath and let his head fall back against the head rest. Gabe was quiet for a few minutes, but he eventually broke the silence.

"Are you okay?"

Castiel fumbled in his pocket for his keys before pulling them out and put them in the ignition. "I'm fine, I've just had a long day." Castiel started the car and started maneuvering his way out of the parking spot and out of the school parking lot. Once they were out on the main road, Castiel told Gabe everything that happened.

"He's trying so hard to… to _talk_ to me. And I don't get it. How could he go eight fucking years without saying so much as a sentence, and now all of a sudden I'm the only person he's interested in talking to?"

"What a fucking prick..." Gabe muttered, turning to look at Castiel. "Has he given you his full-of-shit excuse yet as to why he didn't talk to you all that time?"

"Not so much as a word." Castiel said flatly.

"I say fuck him. Forget him. Pretend he doesn't exist. Do to him what he's done to you, but better. Show him that you're stronger, you're better without him. You don't need him. You never needed him." Gabe said, voice like ice.

Castiel sighed. "I wish it was that easy. But now I have to see his damn face every day and remember all the things that I liked about him when we were kids."

Gabe rested his hand on Castiel's shoulder. "Trust me, man, you're going to be much better off if you just let this guy go. I know it's going to be hard… but you have to do what's going to make you happy."

"I know…"

Neither of them spoke another word until they got to the bakery. Castiel tried to lose himself in the bakery like he always did, but he couldn't stop thinking about Dean. He'd looked so lost and broken… he looked like.

"Me…"

Castiel came to when he realized there was a customer standing in front of him. He was expecting her to snap, but she looked more concerned than annoyed. "Are you alright sweetie? Have you been standin' here too long?"

Castiel shook his head. "My apologies, ma'am, what can I get for you?"

The rest of the shift slowly ticked by, and eventually Castiel waved goodbye to Gabe and his parents, hung up his apron, and made the drive home.


	5. Four

Dean's thumb hovered over the send button. He had gotten Castiel's number a few days ago. He still had yet to send him anything. He was absolutely terrified. Castiel had given him nothing but the cold shoulder since they'd talked again that first time. And, he was totally right to do so. Dean blamed nobody but himself for the way things were between them now.

So… it was up to him to fix it, right?

He finally hit send on the draft that had been sitting in his text messages for two days.

At home, Castiel's phone buzzed. He picked it up to see a notification from an unknown phone number. Intrigued, he turned his attention from the English homework he'd been working on and unlocked his phone.

 **(845) 362 8691:  
Hey Cas. This is Dean. I know things have been really rough since I got back… I'm sorry that I've messed everything up. But, if it is worth anything at all, I miss you. I miss you a lot. I want to fix things more than I've ever wanted anything on this earth. 6:29PM**

Castiel's breath hitched. He didn't respond.

Dean's typing…

 **I know I may not be your best friend anymore (which I understand, and it's totally fine). But, you're still mine, so… here goes. 6:31PM**

Dean's typing…

 **Mom and Dad divorced. That's why Sammy and I moved back to New York. Dad cheated, and you know my Mom. She's a tough woman, and she is worth more than that. So, they divorced, she got custody, and we packed up and moved back here to be closer to Mom's family. Before he even cheated, though, they fought a lot. To be honest, I think the marriage started falling apart the day we left New York. He never seemed to put his family first, and he showed that when Mom came home to find another woman in their bed. I know it isn't much of an excuse, but, it's an explanation at best. 6:36PM**

Castiel's heart ached. He had no idea.

"Why didn't you just tell me, asshat…" he mumbled to himself.

The line went quiet, but only for a moment.

Dean's typing…

 **I wish I hadn't lost touch. I wish I had done things differently. 6:42PM**

Castiel left his phone on the bed, pacing about the room. Why was so much happening?

Dean's typing…

 **I'm sorry, Cas. 6:45PM**

He hadn't expected so much to happen. Because, so… so much was happening… He felt so bad for Dean, but… Castiel had his struggles too. And he reached out to Dean. Dean didn't do the same.

Then again, Dean had never been the sharing type. So, the fact that he was telling Castiel so much now said a lot about how terribly he felt about how things ended.

Even after all these years… Castiel felt like Dean knew him better than anyone. And he was sure Dean felt the same about him.

So of course Dean knew that Castiel was going to respond to him. Just not now. But he was probably expecting that too. It was a good thing that it was a Friday because Castiel didn't feel like he slept at all.

 ** _Cas:  
I probably shouldn't do this, but… I forgive you Dean. I don't know if I'm ready to pick up where we left off, but I think I'm ready to forgive you. 4:52AM_**

He added Dean to his contacts because he'd forgotten to do so earlier. He put him under the name 'Asshat.' There was no way he'd forget who it was then.

 **Dean:  
Thank you. 4:55AM**

Castiel let out a deep sigh. "And thus begins the saga of late-night texts that I'll regret in the morning…" he whispered to himself.

 ** _Cas:  
You can't sleep either? 4:59AM_**

 **Dean:  
I actually was asleep. Just forgot to silence my phone, lol. 5:02AM**

Castiel felt his cheeks flush. Guess this wasn't a good idea after all.

 ** _Cas:  
Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. 5:03AM_**

 **Dean:  
No worries. It was a nice message to wake up to. 5:04AM**

Castiel didn't realize he was holding his breath until he let it out in a deep sigh. The conversation wasn't moving on its own. Why did he want to keep it going so bad?

 ** _Cas:  
I don't know, I thought the 'I probably shouldn't do this' would be a bit of a turn off. 5:06AM_**

 **Dean:  
I think it's safe to say I've earned it, though. 5:07AM**

 ** _Cas:  
Yeah, maybe. But… maybe not. 5:08AM_**

 **Dean:  
You don't have to go easy on me because I gave you a good sob story. 5:10AM**

 ** _Cas:  
Contrary to everything that's happened, I never stopped thinking of you as my friend, Dean. 5:11AM_**

 **Dean:  
Contrary to everything I've done, I never stopped thinking of you as mine. 5:13AM**

 ** _Cas:  
I think I just need time. It's a lot of old wounds getting ripped open at once, and I don't think dumping a bottle of rubbing alcohol in there is going to do much but make it hurt worse. 5:16AM_**

 **Dean:  
That's oddly poetic for just after 5 in the morning. 5:17AM**

 ** _Cas:  
I like to think it's a part of my charm._** **_5:18AM_**

 **Dean:  
At least your charm doesn't involve fucking up everything you've ever cared about. 5:20AM**

 ** _Cas:  
…How close do you live to the old oak tree? 5:23AM_**

 **Dean:  
Just down the road. A couple houses down from where we lived before. 5:23AM**

Castiel stood up and quietly slid on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. He knew he'd just told Dean that he needed time to heal, but… eventually he would be numb to the constant sting of the alcohol, right? Maybe this was what he needed. Throw himself into the deep end instead of taking things slow.

Maybe this could all work.

 ** _Cas:  
I can be there in 5 minutes. 5:26AM_**

Castiel didn't check his phone again before quietly sneaking out of the front door. He'd left a note on the kitchen table just in case he walked in the door after his parents had woken up. Unlike most parents of teenagers, they trusted Castiel's judgement. So, he very seldom hid things from them. The sky was just beginning to show the signs of sunrise. Castiel got to the tree and fell back against it. He let his head fall back against the rough bark and he took deep breaths. The air felt fresh and cool in his lungs; it was going to be a cold autumn. At some point he felt his phone vibrate, which was either a confirmation or a refusal of Dean coming to join him.

In about 10 minutes his response was the soft crunching of leaves as Dean approached him. They exchanged no words, and instead pulled each other into a crushing embrace. It had been so long since they'd hugged each other under this tree for the last time 8 years ago. They held each other for a long time, quietly crying into the shoulder of the other.

"I'm so sorry, Cas… you deserve so much better than me."

Castiel just hugged him tighter. "You might be right, but that doesn't matter. I missed you."

Dean whispered a soft "I missed you more," into the other's shoulder.

They finally let each other go and fell down under the tree. Dean talked about all of the things that had happened after he left. How he watched his family fall apart. He never made a lot of friends in California. He only ever had his brother. Castiel suddenly felt terrible for being so upset. Castiel had a loving, supportive family, a great group of friends. He knew no hardships like these, and yet… he was the one who tried to commit suicide. He felt pathetic.

But he didn't tell Dean any of that. He just let Dean say all the things he had wanted to say ever since they got in that car and drove away all those years ago.


	6. Five

Dean and Castiel were slowly but surely returning to good terms. Charlie was ecstatic because it had been so long since she'd seen the sparkle in Castiel's eyes. Gabe was more than displeased with the situation, but he wasn't going to push Castiel to cut Dean out if he didn't want to.

"I'm just so worried about him, Charlie…" Gabe mumbled as they walked towards the lunch room. "I'm worried that Dean is going to up and bolt again, and Cas is going to be broken for good. It took us so long to fix him."

Charlie rubbed reassuring circles into Gabe's back. "I know. I'm worried too. But, I promise you that I don't think Dean is as evil as we've lead ourselves to believe. You should have seen the way he looked at me when he asked for Cassie's number. So much hope, so much _desperation_. So much regret… I think he is really capable of fixing this."

Gabe froze as he saw Castiel and Dean walking a few paces ahead of them. His fists clenched and loosened a few times before he kept walking, Charlie giving him a worried glance.

"I really hope you're right, Charlie. I don't know if I'll be able to take seeing him in that hospital bed again."

Charlie looked at him sadly, but she wasn't sure what to say. She'd kept his secret for so long and she knew he hated talking about it in public, so she didn't want to push it. She didn't want to accidentally say anything that would be too expository.

Gabe… had developed significant feelings for Castiel over the years. But Castiel was always so focused on Dean that he was perfectly oblivious to that fact. At the end of eighth grade, Gabe had come out to them as bisexual. But he didn't mention that he had had a major crush on Castiel since at _least_ two years before then. But he's always been able to keep his feelings at bay for Castiel's sake because of how much he cared about him. Charlie always thought that something would come of them eventually, but… now that Dean was back she wasn't so sure. Castiel had never outright said that he had romantic feelings for Dean, but, she was sure there was some longing there that were stronger than a platonic relationship.

And she could see just how much Dean loved Castiel. He looked at him like he was the light at the end of a darkness that felt like it had lasted an eternity. When Castiel granted him the ability to reach out to Cas, she saw the hope in his eyes; the passion, the desire. The possibility that things could go back to the way they were before they'd been separated. She wanted nothing more than both of her closest friends to be happy, but it looked like Castiel's happiness was going to come at the expense of Gabe's. And she had no idea what to do.

Eventually her mind was allowed to clear when they entered the lunch room. They scattered their separate ways to get their food before meeting at their table. Castiel approached the table with a very apprehensive Dean behind him.

"I can… I can go eat somewhere else, if—"

"Oh, nonsense!" Charlie exclaimed, beckoning him closer to the table. "Any friend of Cassie's is a friend of ours, guaranteed!"

Gabe said nothing. Dean nodded and sat down next to Castiel. He muttered a soft thanks. The table remained silent for several minutes. Eventually Charlie let out a frustrated groan.

"Man, do I have to do _everything_ around here?" she asked before standing up. "Let's go around the table and introduce everyone. I'll start. My name's Charlie, I'm gay as hell, and I use vine references in my every day speech."

She beckoned to Gabe, who gave her a look that said 'I'd kill you if I didn't love you so much.'

"I'm Gabe. I'm bi. That's all I've got."

Charlie glared at him. "You have to have at least one more thing to say. Three things, Gabe! Three things!" she insisted. He sighed in response.

"I'm Gabe, I'm bi, and Charlie has decreased my life expectancy by at least 20 years."

Everyone else at the table snickered, including Charlie. "I'll accept it."

She then turned and motioned towards Castiel.

Castiel cleared his throat. "I'm Cas, I guess I'm the straight friend, and I like jazz."

Charlie snorted, earning a punch in the arm from Gabe. Castiel hadn't come out as anything yet, but… it was painstakingly obvious that the kid was not straight. After giving Charlie a raised brow, Castiel turned to Dean. "I guess it's your turn."

Dean looked at the other two nervously. "Um, I'm Dean. I too enjoy vine references, and I, um… I'm also bisexual."

Charlie nearly spit out her drink that she'd been taking a sip of before throwing her hand in the air. "Yeah, gay squad! Gay squad!" Even Gabe, against his better judgement, gave an impressed smirk.

Dean threw his hand up and gave Charlie a high five, smiling bigger than Castiel ever remembered seeing.

"Wouldn't tag you as the type to swing both ways, Winchester," Gabe remarked, still smirking. At least he had one good thing going for him at this point.

Dean blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I can't help that there's a lot of hot guys on this planet, man."

Castiel smiled to himself as the other three got lost in conversation. He'd made the right decision. This was what both he and Dean needed after all.

The end of the day rolled around. After Calculus, Castiel had not run into Dean again. He took his time at his locker in the hopes that he would walk by, but he still didn't see him. Castiel sighed and closed the locker. He made his way towards the parking lot where Gabe was waiting by his car. He wondered where Dean could have run off to so quickly after their last class.

"You alright, Cas? What took so long?"

"Sorry, I couldn't find the damn book I was looking for." Castiel was getting concerned about how easily he was able to lie about his feelings. "Ready to go to work?"

Gabe fell into the car with Castiel. "You wanna call off today? We can go play video games instead."

Castiel smiled. "Are your parents good with that?"

Gabe held up his phone with a text from his parents already dismissing the two of them from work for the afternoon. Castiel started the car. "Alright, let's go."

The afternoon slowly crawled away from them as they played games together. It had been so long since Castiel had had quality time with Gabe like this and he missed it more than he wanted to admit. Gabe had always been so easy to talk to, and he always felt safe with him.

Eventually, Castiel's mother came up and knocked softly on his door. She pushed it open a crack to see Gabe and Castiel laying on the bed, laughing together. She smiled softly; it had been a long time since she'd seen such a genuine smile on her son's face.

"Cas, honey, dinner is almost ready. You're more than welcome to stay, Gabriel."

Gabe smiled up at Castiel's mother. "I appreciate it Mrs. Novak, but I told my parents I was coming home for dinner."

She beamed at him. "Well, it's always a pleasure to see you. You're welcome at the Novak house any time, sweetie."

With that, Castiel's mother left and they stood up. Castiel powered his console down before turning into a bone-crushing hug from Gabe.

"Thanks, Gabe. I really needed this," he wheezed. Gabriel chuckled softly.

"Me too, Cassie. We should do this more often."

He turned and picked up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

"Do you want a ride home?" Castiel asked.

"Nah, I don't mind walking. I'll see you at school tomorrow, Cassie."

Castiel followed him downstairs and they each shared one more smile before he left. Once outside, Gabe let out a deep breath.

"Still couldn't _fucking_ do it," he muttered to himself, walking away from the Novak household.

Back inside, Castiel sat down to dinner and they all went around the table and talked about their day. Castiel looked to the empty chair next to him and sighed. He missed his brother. He'd been in college for what felt like forever. He graduated from undergraduate school last year, and now he was in a PhD program at Yale. He'd always been a smarty pants; Castiel always wanted to be just like him.

Castiel's mother must have noticed him drifting off staring at Luke's chair. She reached out and grabbed his hand. "I think we're all missing Luke, lately. Even after all these years, it still feels strange not having him at home anymore. And now you only have 2 years of high school left, and we'll truly be empty nesters."

Castiel smiled at his mom. "You know Luke and I will always come home."

His mother stood up and walked over to him, pulling him into a hug. He looked up at his father across the table, who gave him a soft smile. He immediately thought of Dean. He probably never knew what it felt like to have two parents who loved you and cared for you more than anything. He only knew the pain that his father had caused himself, his brother, and his mother. But Miss Mary had always been a tough lady, and he knew that she had plenty of love to give to Sam and Dean.

And he knew that once his mother knew that Dean had moved back, she would welcome him into their home with open arms and he and Sam would always be welcome to be a part of our family again.

Castiel smiled and leaned into his mother's embrace. Things were going to get better for all of them. For once in his life, everything truly felt okay.


	7. Six

The next few weeks passed without incident. As far as Castiel could tell, Gabe was finally starting to warm up to Dean. At the very least, Gabe was resigning to playing nice. Charlie had long since warmed up to him, but Castiel could still see the glint in her eye. She was ready to pounce the minute he screwed up again. For Dean's sake, Castiel prayed that he wouldn't. And… for his sake too, he supposed. He was already starting to get more attached to Dean Winchester again than he ever thought he'd be. As much as he didn't want it to be, it was an incredibly dangerous game he was playing.

Castiel and Charlie walked down the hall towards their first class of the day. Their attention was grabbed by some members of the student council pinning up posters advertising the winter formal coming up in a few weeks. Tickets were supposedly going on sale later this week.

"Who were you thinking about taking, Cas?" Charlie asked, nudging his side. She has always been on his case about getting a significant other. He supposed she had some deep, dark desire to be someone's wing woman.

Castiel shrugged. "I don't think I'm gonna go."

"Oh, come on, Cas! You have to go. And Gabe and I already going as each other's not-dates, so you have to at least _bring_ someone so we're even. Preferably a special someone."

"Why are you so obsessed with me dating someone? If you just want me to bring someone, I could just bring Dean as my not-date." Castiel insisted. He really didn't want to go to this dance at all. But he felt like between Gabe and Charlie, he wasn't going to have a choice.

"Well, you're the _straight_ friend, so you're statistically more likely to be successful in your endeavors for a date," Charlie stated matter-of-factly. "Also, I know for a fact that there are girls at this school that you'd like to ask, and you never will without me pushing you to do it. No cop outs, no Dean. A _date_."

Castiel groaned as they continued walking. "I don't like the suggestive tone behind calling me the straight friend, and I don't understand why you think anyone in this school would actually want to be my date to a dance," he muttered, leaving him unable to pay enough attention to keep himself from bumping into a random stranger. He stumbled backwards a few steps and looked up. He was halfway through an apology before he was stunned into silence.

The girl he ran into was incredibly pretty, and she was no stranger. She was Hannah Johnson, the current vice president of the student council. More importantly, Hannah Johnson, the girl he's had a crush on since elementary school. He felt his heart thumping in his chest. She gave him a cute smile. "Sorry, looks like I wasn't paying much attention."

Castiel threw his hands in front of him, waving them around frantically. "No, no, it was all me. My bad."

The girl gave him a curious look. "You're Castiel Novak, right?" she asked, giving him an interested smirk. "The student council is really impressed with all the work you've done with the tutoring program. You do some good stuff."

Castiel felt his face burst into a fierce blush. "Th-thanks. I'm flattered."

Charlie smirked and elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow, what the hell—"

"I see you're putting up some posters for the upcoming formal there, er—what's your name again?"

The girl laughed. "Hannah Johnson. Vice president of the student council, at your service."

"Ah, impressive credentials… you can't pass up an opportunity like this, Novak," Charlie teased. Castiel remained silent, blushing furiously. Hannah gave him a sweet smile.

Hannah laughed at the scene. "If your friend is implying that you would like to ask me to the dance… I'd be glad to go with you, Castiel."

Castiel looked at her, dumbfounded. "Oh-okay. Great! It's, uh…" he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "It's a date."

This time it was Hannah who blushed. She pulled out a pen and ripped off the corner of one of the posters. She hastily scribbled down her phone number and handed it to Castiel. "Text me sometime, Novak."

With that, she walked away. Castiel turned to Charlie and punched her in the arm. "What the _hell_ , Charlie?!"

Charlie smiled. " _Whaaaat_? You've had a crush on her for like, forever, right?"

Castiel threw his arms up in frustration. "So?!"

"So now you have a date with her. Perk up, kid."

Gabe had appeared out of the crowd of students and walked up to the two of them. "What's going on? Why does Castiel look like such an angry tomato?" he asked, chuckling. He ignored the death glare that Castiel shot towards him.

Charlie smirked. " _I_ just got him a date with _the_ Hannah Johnson. And he's pretending to be really upset about it."

The smile immediately fell from Gabe's face. "Oh. Hannah Johnson, huh? What a _catch_."

"Hey, Gabe, not cool. Hannah's sweet." Charlie retorted.

"Yeah, about as sweet as squirting lemon juice right into my _eyes_ ," he growled, airing the motion of actually squirting lemons into his eyes.

Castiel gave Gabe a concerned look. "What are you so upset about? Weren't you and Charlie the one's pressing me to get a date in the first place?"

"Well, yeah, but not with _her_! Haven't you heard the things people say about her? She's a controlling, manipulative bitch. How else do you think she secured the vice president gig?"

Before Castiel or Charlie could ask him anymore questions, he turned around and stormed off. Hidden behind the end of the lockers, Dean overheard the whole conversation.

 _Cas has a date, huh…_

He let out a deep sigh and turned and crept into the crowd, walking in the direction Gabe had stormed off, trying not to let the deep punch of disappointment get to him.

 _Good for him,_ he thought. _I'm glad that he's out in the dating scene at least._ _I'm glad I didn't completely ruin his sense of trust._

Dean tried to ignore the sting of tears in his eyes. He had been waffling over asking Castiel to the dance for several days now, but… he supposed his anxiety could be replaced with disappointment now. He perked up when one of his new friends, Jo, fell in step next to him as they walked together to their first class. He ignored the fluttering in his stomach as she started bombarding him with questions about their homework assignment that was due in approximately 15 minutes.

Charlie scoffed where she stood next to Castiel, staring after Gabe. "That wasn't like him. What do you think that was about?"

Castiel stared after him, his face twisted in confusion. "I don't know. I've never seen him react like that before to… anything."

As they continued walking towards their class, Castiel pulled out his phone.

 ** _Cas:  
Hey, are you okay? You seemed really upset about me going to the dance with Hannah. 7:52AM_**

 **Gabe:  
I haven't heard the best things about her. I just don't want to see you get hurt again, Cas. 7:54AM**

Castiel couldn't help but smile.

 ** _Cas:  
I appreciate you so much, Gabe. But you don't have to drive yourself crazy trying to protect me all the time. 7:55AM_**

 **Gabe:  
I couldn't live with myself if we even came close to losing you again. 7:56AM**

 ** _Cas:  
I'm in a much better place now. I promise, that isn't something you have to worry about anymore. 7:57AM_**

. . .

 ** _Cas:  
Cheer up, Gabe. We're all going to have a great time at that dance. 8:03AM_**

Later that day at lunch, the usual group of four sat at their table. Charlie immediately began planning outfits for herself and Gabe.

"I was thinking we could go for pink," Gabe said. He looked up to Charlie giving him an incredulous look.

"What pink are we talking here, Henson? Pastel? Hot?" she demanded, standing up and pulling Gabe up by his shirt collar. "Salmon? Coral?!"

Castiel grabbed Charlie by her shoulder and pulled her back. "Easy, girl. Don't kill the man."

Gabe laughed. "Coral. I'm feeling _daring_."

Castiel rolled his eyes and turned to look at Dean sitting across the table. He was gazing off at something in the distance. Correction, make that _someone_. Castiel followed his gaze and landed on a pretty girl with bright blonde hair. She was sitting a few tables away with a group of her friends.

"Jo Harvelle, huh?" Castiel said softly, laughing when Dean's gaze whipped back to meet his own, blushing furiously.

"H-how could you tell?"

Castiel laughed. "She's a hell of a catch. You should go talk to her." Though, deep down Castiel almost wished that he wouldn't.

Dean shook his head, blushing. "Nah, man. We're just friends. I don't think she would dig me like that."

Castiel gave a small smile. He forgot how nice it was to be Dean's friend. "You never know if you don't ask, right?"

He tried to shove down the feelings he had into the pit of his stomach. If he didn't know any better he'd think that he was feeling jealous over the fact that Dean was interested in asking out Jo Harvelle. One, Castiel was straight, so he wasn't even romantically interested in Dean. Two, Castiel also had a date to the dance, so why shouldn't Dean have one too?

Before Dean could muster any sort of response, Charlie was over at his side trying to drag him out of his seat. "Come on, Dean-o. The love doctor is gonna be two for two today!"

Castiel burst out into laughter as a bright pink Dean Winchester was dragged across the cafeteria towards Jo Harvelle's table. Yet, he still couldn't fight the twinge of disappointment as he watched him being flustered by someone that… wasn't him.

He shook his head and fought those feelings away. Dean was his own person, and there was no reason for him to be jealous over his friend potentially getting a significant other. Why did he have to keep fighting himself on this? What was wrong with him?

His smile returned to his face as Dean returned to the table, a blushing Jo Harvelle giggling back at her table, a slip of paper in her hand. Presumably, Dean's number had been furiously scribbled onto that piece of paper by Charlie as Dean stood by, fumbling his way through a proposal to the dance.

He jumped as someone snuck up behind him and threw their hands over his eyes.

"Guess who!"

Charlie beamed as she watched the two of them across the table. Dean averted his eyes, and Gabe looked like he was ready to kill her if she kept touching him. Castiel sucked in a deep breath and released it, trying to steady his heartbeat. "Jesus, Hannah, you scared me."

Without any sort of introduction, Hannah pulled on Castiel's shirt. "Cassie, can you come with me for a second? I wanna talk to you about something!"

Castiel looked at her confused but stood up. "Uh, yeah, sure."

Hannah flashed the rest of his table a bright smile before practically dragging Castiel away from them. Dean's eyes followed the two of them walked across the cafeteria, his face twisted with concern. Castiel turned around and shot his friends one last look before he disappeared into the hallway outside with Hannah.

Hannah turned to make sure no one was around before she shoved Castiel up against the wall.

"Woah, what the hell—"

"Shut it," Hannah demanded, her arms on either side of Castiel's head. "I know you've got the hots for Winchester, but you're dating me now, got it? I don't want to see you so much as look in his direction, or you're going to regret it."

Castiel's eyes went wide. What was going on? Hannah was always so sweet and charming, where the hell did this come from? What happened to the sweet girl with bright eyes who was blushing over him asking her to the dance just this morning?

He shook his head. "Hannah, you can't be serious. I'm _straight_. But even then, you can't just decide—"

A hard smack resounded off of Castiel's cheek. The sting and shock of the hit caused tears to well in Castiel's eyes. He searched Hannah's eyes for regret; maybe she'd just overreacted and hadn't meant to do that. But she stared back at him, her stare cool and calculated, as though she were waiting for him to make a wrong move, so she could hit him again.

"I have an image to maintain, and dating you is no doubt going to enhance my status. I can't have you fooling around with anyone else while you're with me and screwing up my reputation. Got it?"

With that, Hannah shoved Castiel away from her, sending him stumbling backwards, catching himself on a trash can. She eyed him with a satisfied smirk before she turned and stalked off, leaving Castiel behind, tears streaming down his face and rubbing his cheek.

He ran into the nearest bathroom and locked himself in a stall. He pulled out his phone and his hands hovered shakily over the keyboard, ready to text someone… anyone. What did he even say? My girlfriend slapped me? Most guys are into that sort of thing, aren't they? He should be more okay with this… why did he feel so afraid of her all of a sudden?

He felt like he was suffocating... like he was about to puke up the little bit of lunch he'd just eaten before she came and dragged him away. He needed to get out… but out of what? The stall? The school? The relationship? Which relationship even…the one with Hannah or the one with Dean? His body shook with sobs and he just wrapped his arms around himself and let himself cry for the next five minutes.

He eventually wiped the tears from his eyes and sniffed back the ones that still wanted to fall. He'd regained some of his composure; enough to get him through class, anyway. Eventually the bell rang, and he was able to blend into the rush leaving the lunch room and make his way back to his classroom. His friends were great, so he knew that Charlie would be sitting in English and he knew that she would have grabbed his things for him from the cafeteria.

He came in and sat down. He felt Charlie smirk next to him.

"Listen, Cas, I know sneaking off to make out with your girlfriend is fun and all, but I'm not gonna throw away your lunch tray for you every day."

Castiel plastered on the sincerest smile he could muster as Charlie dropped his bookbag into his lap. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, Charlie. You're seriously the best."

He lost himself in the lecture and paid no mind to the worried side glances that Dean kept shooting him from across the room.

 _His cheek is red… but that doesn't look like the type of flush someone gets after a good make out. That definitely looks like… someone hit him_.

Dean shook his head and tried to clear the thoughts, but he couldn't fight off the sinking feeling in his gut. Hannah was the class vice president. She wouldn't do anything that stupid. Her reputation would be destroyed in an instant if people knew that she abused her significant other.

But just because nobody ever saw her doing it doesn't mean that she didn't.

 _Damn Cas…_ he thought. _You're too good to put up with that bullshit. Get out of it…_

He tried to shove the thought away, but it persisted.

 _I know I've hurt you, but… I'd never hurt you that way._

Dean turned around and tried his best to focus on the lecture at hand, but by the time the bell rang and Castiel had burst out of the classroom, he was sure he wasn't going to be able to focus on anything else today. He was thankful that they shared their next class together too, so he could try to keep a better eye on him. He didn't like anything about what was going on.

After the last class period for the day was finally over, Dean bolted out of his seat and ran for Castiel's locker. His heart thumped with relief when he saw the brunette exchanging books from his locker.

"Cas!" he called, running as though it was a fever dream and Castiel was going to disappear from in front of him any second. He wanted to ignore the scared look in Castiel's eyes as he approached him. He looked like a deer that had been caught in headlights.

"Hey, are you alright, man?" Dean asked, not even attempting to mask the concern in his voice. "You looked a little rough after lunch. Is everything okay with Hannah?"

Castiel grunted something unintelligible as he shoved the rest of his books into his locker. Dean reached out and attempted to grab his shoulder, but as soon as Castiel caught his movement out of the corner of his eye he jumped back like he'd been burned.

Dean pulled back himself, looking at Castiel with even more concern in his eyes. "Cas? Are you okay? What the hell is going on?"

Castiel responded by slamming his locker closed. "Jesus, Dean, can't you just leave me the hell alone for once? _Please_?" he pleaded, his voice cracking with unshed tears.

"Cas," he muttered. The desperation in Castiel's voice broke him. But before Dean could say anything else, Castiel pushed past him and ran for the parking lot. Hannah watched this unfold from further in the crowd of students leaving the school. She smirked.

 _Pitiful. That Castiel will really do anything someone asks him to do, won't he?_

Dean turned and met her piercing gaze. She simply smirked at him before turning around and walking away, flipping her hair behind her. Dean felt his blood boil.

 _I have to protect Cas. I can't let her hurt him. I can't… lose him._

Castiel flopped into his car and took in deep breaths. He hated everything about what he'd just done. But Hannah was downright terrifying, and he had no idea how he was going to get himself out of this.

Gabe eventually showed up and fell into the seat next to him. Castiel took a deep breath and plastered a smile on his face.

"Hey. You feeling better, man?"

Gabe shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. I'm sorry… about how I acted earlier. If you're happy with Hannah, then I'm happy for you." Gabe shot him a small smile, but he quickly looked away. Castiel could tell that he wasn't in the mood for talking; he supposed he was thankful for that, because that meant he was at a lower risk for bursting into tears if he had to talk about everything that had happened that day.

The girl he'd had a crush on since elementary school turned out to be an absolute nightmare just like you said she would, and I have no idea how to get myself out of this situation?

 _Jesus, Castiel. What the hell are you going to do?_

The ride home was filled with the most uncomfortable silence that had ever fallen between the two of them.


	8. Seven

The buzz of excitement in the halls was tangible as the formal was rapidly approaching. Hannah and other members of student council were constantly tabling in the hallways, selling tickets to the event and encouraging students to cast their votes for the dance royalty. She often had Castiel by her side, almost like she was keeping a leash on him.

Charlie thought it was the 'most adorable thing' she'd ever seen, and that frustrated the hell out of Gabe and Dean. They both bristled with unease as they watched them interacting; how could Charlie not see it? Castiel always looked like he was quaking. He looked like he was unsure if he was going to make it to his next classes alive or not, and there was no way in hell that that was a good sign.

At lunch that day, Dean finally threw aside his own insecurities and yanked Gabe's arm, pulling him over into a corner where he stood.

Gabe shot him a look that absolutely screamed 'I _will_ murder _you_ ,' but Dean did his best to ignore it.

"Listen, Gabe. I know how you feel about me. I'm a piece of shit, and I know that I'm not going to change your mind, but…"

Dean's eyes floated back to Castiel, who sat still at the table next to Hannah, looking forward. He was smiling as he talked to the students at the table, but his eyes were hollow. Empty. Tired.

It had only been two weeks since they'd officially come out saying they were a couple, and Hannah had already sucked the life out of him.

"I'm so worried about Cas, Gabe. Hannah is bad news. He won't talk to me anymore, and when we were in class a couple weeks ago after Hannah took him outside to talk to him… Gabe, his cheek was so red. It looked like she'd hit him."

Gabe regarded him with careful eyes. "You're right. I don't like you. I _really,_ really don't like you. But Cas likes you, and unlike some of us, I actually care about my friends."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Gabe, please. You see him, don't you? He looks so… gone."

Gabe turned around to look at Castiel sitting at the table. His guard fell immediately; Dean was right. He looked positively miserable. Gabe growled as he turned back to face Dean.

"I told him I hadn't heard good things about her… I didn't want him to get subjected to all that shit. He had enough heartbreak when he had to deal with _you_."

Dean winced away from Gabe's words. He didn't bother trying to hide the tears that so desperately wanted to fall. "Despite everything you and Charlie think about me, I care about him, Gabe. I care about him so _goddamn_ much it hurts. We have to do something. We have to help him. We can't let him stay with her, she'll… he doesn't need any more terrible people in his life than he's already had. He doesn't need to feel with her the way he always felt when he thought about me."

Gabe wanted to just shove off everything and ignore him, but the pain in his eyes was sincere. He knew it all too well himself, though he'd never admit it. Against all his better judgement, Gabe placed a tender hand on Dean's shoulder.

"We're going to help him, Dean. I promise. We aren't going to let him get hurt anymore."

The day ended, and Dean didn't make any attempts at contact with Castiel. He figured that if Castiel was avoiding him like the plague, it was probably Hannah telling him that he had to. Though, he wouldn't blame Castiel if it was of his own volition. He still wasn't entirely sure how Castiel had forgiven him so readily for everything that had happened between them. How Castiel was so quick to jump to his aid when he needed to be taken care of, when Dean hadn't even been bothered to do the same for Castiel when he needed them all those years.

He threw a hand up to his face and groaned. "God, I really am the worst person on the planet, aren't I?"

A snicker resounded next to him. "You said it, not me."

Dean whipped around to see Hannah staring him down. Her eyes were cold and empty. She didn't deserve Castiel. She deserved the absolute worst, and he was going to make sure that it came to her.

"Can I help you with something, sweetheart?" he asked, his voice like ice.

"I might ask you to keep your slimy hands and your, well," she punctuated with a vague gesture towards Dean. "Keep your _that_ away from my boyfriend."

Dean narrowed his eyes and curled his hands into fists so tight that his nails dug into the palms of his hand. He practically growled the next words.

"You haven't gotten away with anything yet, hun. I know that you're hurting him, and I'm going to protect him from scum like you. You don't deserve to call someone like Castiel Novak your boyfriend. Or your anything, for that matter."

Her face stayed neutral, unimpressed. Dean hated how confident she looked. Just one wrong move and her reputation was gone down the drain; how could she always be so damn sure of herself?

"How do you plan on protecting him from scum when you hang out with him and his friends all the time? You're worst of all. You ignored him for years and _years_ , and only decide that you want to be back in his life because he's all _hot_ and grown-up now. I know how you Winchesters play your _dirty_ little games. You get up and you leave when a better offer comes along. That's where daddy went, right?" She folded her arms as a satisfied smirk crossed her face as Dean's own expression fell, his resolve crumbling faster than he could try to restore it. "Mom and kids weren't so great as they used to be, so he found his next dime piece."

Dean's vision went red with rage, and at the same time he felt his heart cracking all over again and the old scars ripping open. He wanted nothing more than to wipe that disgusting, vile smirk off of that girl's face. But a soft hand landed on his shoulder. He turned to see Gabe next to him, softly shaking his head.

"It isn't worth it, Dean. Come on. She's just trying to get under your skin."

Without even turning to look back at Hannah, who no doubt had a satisfied smirk across her features, Dean let himself get dragged away from the scene by Gabe. They walked together in an uncomfortable silence towards the school entrance. Before either of them got out, he stopped and grabbed Gabe by the shirt sleeve, stopping him in his tracks.

"Gabe? Please make sure Cas is okay. I'm so worried about him… and keep me posted? I know it's best for him if I don't talk to him right now…"

Dean looked up at Gabe with pleading eyes. "Please."

Gabe's gaze softened when he saw the raw desperation in the other boy's eyes. "I'll keep my eye on him, Winchester. Don't worry about it. He'll make it out of this just like he makes it out of everything else. I've… I've only ever seen that kid try to give everything up once. I'll never let that happen again."

With that, Gabe turned and left the school. Dean's heart fell into the deepest pit in his stomach. What did he mean he'd only ever seen him try to give everything up once? He shivered, not wanting to think about Castiel Novak, the most precious person on this Earth, feeling anything but utter happiness.

He turned to see Castiel leaving the school with Hannah on his arm, her face absolutely beaming like she hadn't just cornered Dean and threatened him with all of his deepest, darkest secrets. How did she even know any of that stuff? He'd only told Castiel, Charlie, and Gabe about all of that stuff.

He shook his head and made his way to his own car, trying to take deep breaths and calm himself down. Once he got home, he could play a round of cards with Sammy or something to keep his mind off of everything.

He thanked his lucky stars that traffic wasn't as bad as it normally was because he was able to make it home in record time. He walked in the door and threw his bag to the ground before kicking his shoes off. The living room was deserted where he usually found his younger brother watching television and having an after-school snack. He heard a clatter come from the kitchen, followed by a string of expletives. He snickered to himself.

"Mom, is everything okay?" he called.

"Oh, Dean! Thank goodness, can you come help me for a minute?"

He walked into the kitchen to find his mom… and the rest of the kitchen splattered in various baking ingredients.

"What on earth is going on in here?" he asked, trying and failing to keep the laughter out of his voice.

His mother beamed at him. "Just trying some new recipes! One of my coworkers showed me this recipe for some blueberry scones, and they looked really yummy, so I wanted to try them out."

Dean chuckled. "Since when are we the kind of people who eat _scones_? Are we gonna start having tea and biscuits, too?"

Dean's mother rolled her eyes. "Stop being a smart-ass and come help me pick up all these pans I just spilled all over the floor. _Then_ you can help me… remake the scones that I also just spilled all over the floor."

The two spend the next 15 minutes picking up pots and pans and sweeping dough and sugar off of the floor.

"So, where's Sammy? He's usually home by now."

His mother tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she stood up with the dust pan, bringing it to the trash can to dump it. "He went to a friend's house after school today, but he'll be home in time for supper."

Dean nodded his head, not able to shrug the disappointment. Spending time with his brother always helped him feel better when he was having a rough day. They'd become practically inseparable ever since their parents' marriage had started going south. It was much better now that it was just their mom, but he still missed Sammy's company when he was gone.

"Dean!"

Dean was pulled out of his thoughts by his mom, who was looking at him with concern. "Honey, is everything alright? You look so sad."

Dean took a deep, shaky breath and shook his head. Suddenly his resolve came crashing down again, but he knew that he could lose his composure in front of his mother. He was safe at home now. "It was rough today, mom. Cas still won't talk to me, and his girlfriend, like… hates me. She…" he hiccoughed as the tears started flowing, heavier now. "She cornered me today and started talking to me about how dad left, and I don't even know how she _knows_ … maybe Cas told him, or maybe she overheard us talking about it or something, but it's all still so fresh and I thought I was over it, but I'm not… I still hate dad so much for how bad he hurt all of us, but it's so hard to just _hate_ him because he's still dad, even if he's a piece of shit…"

At some point, Dean fell down and started crying. His mother knelt beside him and wrapped him in her arms, rocking themselves back and forth and whispering words of comfort to her son.

"It's okay to be confused. And, honey, it's okay to still love your father. He'll always be you father and you are entitled to your feelings towards him, no matter what they are. I'll never think differently of you for them."

Dean melted further into his mother's embrace, and let his tears fall. "You deserved so much better, mom. You deserved so much better than him."

His mother smiled as tears sparkled in her own eyes. "He may have been a terrible husband, but he gifted me two precious boys that I love more than life itself, and I wouldn't change anything in the world."

She kissed the top of his head and continued to rock the two of them. After several more minutes, Dean's sobs had devolved into occasional sniffles. He eventually pushed himself off of her and rubbed at his eyes, now puffy and red from tears. He looked up at his mom to see that her own eyes were slightly red with shed tears, but they exchanged soft, loving smiles.

"I love you, mom."

She ruffled his hair. "I love you too, Dean-o." She hoisted herself up before reaching down and pulling Dean up with her. He always forgets how tough his mom is until moments like this.

"Let's get those scones baking! They will be a nice sweet treat to help take off the burden of a tough day!"

The rest of the evening was filled with laughter, and even some flour fights. Sammy got home just before dinner got off the stove and the three of them sat down to eat and talk about their days, as they always did. Sammy talked about all the cool videogames that he and his friend got to play today, and he begged their mother for the coolest one he had.

"Oh man, mom, it was so cool! You could steal cars and mug people, and even shoot people!"

His mother dropped the fork of food she was holding. She turned to Dean, her expression completely full of shock. "They're allowed to _make_ games that are that violent?"

Dean laughed. "At least they're just games, right?"

She brought a hand over her chest, the shock ebbing ever so slightly. "Well, honey, since you seem to enjoy the game so much… I'll consider letting you play it as long as Dean is supervising you."

Sam groaned in frustration. "Mom, come on. Dean isn't cool enough to know about video games."

Dean gasped in feign hurt. "How could you, Sammy? Are you forgetting about all the Zelda I played with you when we were kids?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "That doesn't _count_."

Dean scoffed. "Uh, it's a game, in video format. Therefore, it is a _videogame_."

Sam only stuck out his tongue in response.

"Oh, well I hope you didn't fill up on spaghetti, because you're in for a knuckle sandwich, kiddo,"

"No roughhousing in the house!" his mother warned, but it was too late. Sam jumped from the table and ran, with Dean hot on his trail. He caught Sam by his shirt and yanked him backwards into a headlock and gave him a forceful noogie.

"Okay, okay! I surrender! You're cool, you're cool!"

Dean turned back towards the dining room, arms up in victory. His mother only shook his head, standing up and gathering their dishes to bring back into the kitchen. "Come help clean up or you guys don't get any scones."

After discovering that his mom wasn't half bad at baking, he and Sam had both devoured 2 scones before wishing their mom a good night and heading up to their bedrooms. Dean had a homework assignment that he still had to finish before he crawled into bed. He sat down at his desk and pulled his phone out of his pocket to put it on the charger. When the screen flashed on, he saw a text from an unknown number.

 **(845) 439 2201:** **  
Hey Dean! It's Jo. Sorry I didn't text until now, I just pulled your note out of my pocket! 4:47PM**

Dean's face lit up at the number. He saved her as a contact before sending a text back.

 ** _Dean:  
No problem! Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I walked in to a… baking accident and haven't had the chance to look at my phone until now, haha. 7:36PM_**

He figured it would be a few minutes before she texted back since his reply was so late, so he turned his attention to his math homework. He made it through four problems before his phone buzzed next to him.

He cocked his head to the side. "Another unknown number?"

 **(845) 683 3012:  
Hey Dean, this is Gabe's number. Castiel told me everything was fine with Hannah. I asked her if she'd hit him, and he was quick to deny it, which rubs me the wrong way… but I didn't push it. I'll continue keeping an eye on him. Just wanted to keep you in the loop. 7:49PM**

Dean sighed. "Damn, if he won't tell Gabe about it, he's not gonna tell anyone…"

 ** _Dean:  
Thanks Gabe, I appreciate it. I'll keep an eye out too. Since he's not expecting to interact with me, maybe it'll be easier for me to spy on them during lunch hours or something. 7:51PM_**

He went back and saved Gabe as a contact as well. He was really popular today.

 **Gabe:  
Just be careful. Hannah was pretty vicious towards you today. Don't want you to get the wrong idea and think I care about you or anything, but you'll be pretty useless to Castiel if you really get on her bad side. 7:52PM**

Dean rolled his eyes. "Ass."

 ** _Dean:  
Lol. 7:54PM_**

Dean received no more texts from Gabe, so he assumed that's how most of their text conversations were going to be going. He made it through the rest of his math homework and made his way to the bathroom to take a quick shower. When he came back, he had two new texts, both from Jo.

 **Jo:  
Oh, no worries! Baking accident, huh? Don't have those every day! 8:19PM**

 **Jo:  
I know it's kinda early for dance stuff, but, what do you think of this color blue? 8:23PM**

 **See attachment.**

The dress that Jo sent was absolutely gorgeous. Not that he would really know, but it was a really satisfying shade of turquoise, and he was sure she'd look lovely in it.

 ** _Dean:  
Looks great! Never too early for dance stuff. I asked you out, the least I can do is make sure you have a good time. :) 8:30PM_**

 **Jo:  
Aw, you're too sweet! 8:32PM**

Dean fell onto his bed and it wasn't until then that he realized how exhausted he was… would it really be that bad if he went to bed at 8:30? He answered his own question by passing out within 10 minutes of changing into his pajamas and collapsing back into bed.


	9. Eight

In the wake of the drama with Hannah, Dean resigned to sitting with Jo at lunch. He'd learned that the people she normally sat with were more acquaintances than friends.

"Sorry I never texted back last night. I apparently channeled my inner old man and fell asleep at the ripe hour of 8:30."

Jo snickered. "Oh man, I'm letting an old geezer take me to the dance? You'll be ready to leave before we even get there!"

Dean couldn't help the snorting laughter. "Man, it's everyone's loss. You're so cool and funny, I don't understand why more people aren't dying to be friends with you."

Jo shrugged. "I just don't really mesh with any of the groups here, so I sort of just do my own thing all the time."

Dean nodded. "You know, I think Cas' friends would really like you. And I know Charlie would probably love to have another bouncing ball of estrogen hanging around more often."

Jo laughed, turning to look at their table. Sure enough, Charlie was bouncing all over the place as usual. Gabe was sitting next to her, one hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. His gaze shifted to where Castiel sat with Hannah in his lap, her smile filled to the brim with venomous intent. His hands curled into fists and he took a deep breath. He managed to tear his eyes away from the scene, and he was met with Jo's own concerned gaze.

"You alright, Winchester? You look like you want to kill me."

Dean shook his head. "No, I'm fine. It's just… Hannah."

Jo smiled, reaching across the table to take Dean's hands into her own. "You're a really great friend Dean. But you don't have to babysit Castiel. He's capable of making his own decisions, and if he's happy enough to stay with her, then who are we to intervene?"

Dean turned back to look at Castiel. His eyes were at least shining a little brighter today; maybe he'd just been tired. He had a big, stupid grin plastered across his face as Charlie appeared to be spinning some tall tales. Her arms were flapping about wildly, nearly hitting Gabe in the face on more than one occasion.

"You're right." He pulled himself back into his present and looked Jo in the eyes, smiling. He reached over and grabbed her hands into his own, giving them gentle squeezes. "I'll start focusing more on the things in front of me. I promise."

He chuckled at the furious blush that crossed Jo's cheeks. They spent the rest of the lunch period talking excitedly about their favorite bands and musical instruments. Dean learned that Jo was a bit of a renaissance woman and she'd played almost every instrument under the sun at least once.

"I'm currently fixated on the viola, though," she rambled, twirling her hair in her fingers. "It's such an underrated instrument, you know? It has such a pretty sound and if you play it well, you can make it really _sing_."

Dean shot her a stupid grin. "I never pictured you being the classically trained type of musician. That's super cute."

Jo grinned at him. "Well, we can't all be rugged acoustic guitar players, can we?"

Dean threw his hands up in a playful surrender. "Guilty as charged, madam."

Before they knew it, the lunch period was over. Without thinking, Dean insisted upon being a good prom date and walking Jo to her next class, even though it was in the opposite direction of his own class. In the end she relented, and let him walk her to class, and even gave him a small peck on the cheek before waving goodbye and stepping into her classroom. Dean waltzed comfortably back towards his own classroom, sitting down right as the tardy bell rang. He fought every instinct to turn and look at Castiel. He'd had a very good day up until this point, and he didn't want to do anything to mess it up.

Castiel watched as Dean walked into class, barely on time. He'd spent the entire lunch period with Jo, and Castiel was trying so hard to not feel jealous.

But he did.

He'd spent the entire lunch period with Hannah practically glued to him, and no matter how many times he tried to push her away, she just clamped on tighter. She didn't release him until they'd made it to her class. She forced a kiss upon him and waved goodbye as she sauntered away, leaving him to go into his own classroom that was across the hall. Charlie had continuously nudged him and winked at him, and all he could do in response was muster a weak smile. Why didn't he feel happier? All of his friends seemed happy for him; he didn't want to let them down. Especially after everything they've done for him up until this point.

 _They always try so hard to make me happy. I need to do better. I need to be able to be happy without relying on them all the time._

But… was Hannah _really_ the person that was supposed to make him happy? She was so controlling. She hadn't hit him again since that first day at lunch, but she still gave him warning glances. She clearly wasn't opposed to doing it again if he stepped out of line. He still wasn't even entirely sure where the line _was_. He just stayed quiet and complacent and hoped to God that it was enough to satisfy her.

He was glad that Dean had found a prom date that wasn't batshit crazy, though. They'd seemed to be so engrossed in their conversation at lunch that they both had jumped when the bell rang. When Dean walked in, his face looked so blissful. He looked so at peace.

A small part of him wished that he could have been the reason behind it. But he quickly shoved that away before he could think about it anymore. The last thing he needed was for Hannah to find out that he was thinking about Dean when he wasn't allowed to.

 _Not allowed to think about Dean… Jesus, Castiel_ …

He sighed, losing himself in the lecture. When the bell rang, he was the first one out of his seat and out the door. If he wasn't there when Hannah got out of class, she'd be upset.

He mustered the sincerest smile he could when he met Hannah's gaze as she walked out of her class. He watched as her eyes narrowed as she watched Dean Winchester leave the classroom and make his way towards his next class. Castiel turned and saw that Dean was returning a look of similar intensity. For just a moment, his eyes flicked up to meet Castiel's, and he saw the concern immediately flood his eyes. Before Castiel could do anything, Hannah grabbed either side of his face and pulled him back towards her, crashing her lips against his.

"Remember, Cassie," she whispered against his lips. "No Dean Winchester if you know what's good for you."

With one last kiss, she pulled him into a tight hug. "Love you, Cassie. Enjoy the rest of your classes today!"

With that, she turned and sauntered away, leaving Castiel flushed out of embarrassment. He turned and walked towards his class as quickly as he could. Just one more meeting before he went home from school and he'd be free of her for the day. Physically, anyway. He'd have to text her as much as usual though, or she'd get mad.

The end of the day rolled around, and Gabe and Dean had been in contact for the better part of the day. The planned to take position at either end of the hall, eyes on Castiel's locker. When Hannah came to meet him after classes, they'd pull out their phones and record. That way if she tried to pull anything suspicious, they'd catch her in the act.

The two of them both came up with excuses to leave their last classes 5 minutes earlier and rendezvoused in the hallway.

"You don't really think she'd do anything bad to him… in front of people, right?" Dean asked, his voice timid. Gabe shrugged.

"All I know is that I've heard she's a nightmare. But nobody's ever seen her physically hurt a fly, and she smiles like the sun is shining out of her ass, so of course nobody believes a word that any of her exes say."

Dean's stomach felt incredibly unsettled. "I hate this. I hate everything about this."

"Yeah, join the club." Gabe said, his tone monotonous.

As they discussed where they were going to position themselves, they were met with the worst of luck.

"Hello, boys!" said that chipper voice that was going to haunt Dean's nightmares for the next 5 years. At least.

Gabe and Dean both turned to face Hannah Johnson, who was, of course, the hall monitor for this period.

"Mind if I ask you boys what you're up to when class is still in session for," she pulls up her wrist to look at her watch. "Three minutes?"

Gabe rolled his eyes. "Ain't you ever heard of getting let out early?" he asked, clearly not as afraid of her as Dean was at this point.

Hannah met his smirk with narrowed eyes. "This is high school. Getting released early isn't a thing. If you don't have a hall pass, I'm going to have to give both of you boys detention."

Gabe ripped the note out of his pocket, signed by his parents, giving him permission to leave his last class early for the day. He shoved it in Hannah's face and smirked.

"Is that _hall pass_ enough for you?"

She let the note fall from her hands and glared at the both of them again. "If you think you're going to keep me from Castiel Novak, you have another thing coming. I _always_ get what I want. And I especially won't let scum like you two stop me."

Gabe yawned with complete disinterest. "Alright, have fun with that, sweetheart."

Hannah narrowed her eyes, but she said nothing else as she turned and stalked away from them. Once they were out of earshot, Gabe pulled his phone out of his pocket and pressed the 'stop' button on his phone's voice memo. He smirked at Dean, who now had a stupid grin across his face.

"Shit, man, you're a genius! No wonder Cas likes you so much."

Dean chose to ignore the faint blush on Gabe's cheeks. "Whatever, asshole. Let's just get out of here before we get him in even more trouble with Hannah."

The two went their separate ways. Gabe had said he had a contact involved with student announcements, and he'd get the recording sent to him as soon as possible. Student elections would be approaching soon after the dance, and this was sure to knock Hannah off of her high horse for the rest of her high school career.

For the first time in a while, Dean slept somewhat peacefully.

 _Don't worry, Cas… We're going to get you out of this_.

His last thought was of Castiel's face plastered with a wide smile, his eyes bright and full of love. He hoped beyond all hopes that someday, maybe Castiel would look at him like that.

 _Someday…_

"So, is this really the person you want to be in charge of making decisions for you? Someone as manipulative and abusive as Hannah Johnson?"

Gabe's voice rang clear over the intercom as Dean and Gabe walked into the lunch room. Everyone had stopped in their tracks, listening to the announcement. Dean chanced a glance towards where Castiel and Hannah sat. Hannah's face had turned beet red, and he wasn't sure if it was out of anger, embarrassment, or somehow both.

" _If you think you're going to keep me from Castiel Novak, you have another thing coming_..."

Concerned whispers were spreading around the cafeteria like wild fire. People were glancing between where Gabe and Dean stood, and where Hannah sat at her table. They all looked as though they weren't sure what they were supposed to believe.

" _I_ always _get what I want_ …"

Hannah was now hunched over, her face buried in her hands. Probably getting ready to open the flood gates for whatever excuse she'd come up with.

" _And I especially won't let scum like you two stop me_."

Gabe gave Dean a toothy grin before he waltzed over towards Hannah. "What was that you were saying about you weren't going to let _scum like us_ stop you?

"Oh my God!" Hannah cried, sending a jolt through Gabe where he stood. She threw herself into Castiel's arms, sobbing hysterically. "I can't believe the two of you would make a fake recording of me and play it in front of the whole school! I'm so hurt… I thought you guys liked me!"

She feigned more tears, and several students walked up to her offering words of comfort. However, several more students stood back, and some even walked away, shaking their heads. Castiel awkwardly rubbed small circles on her back, unsure of what else to do. It was definitely Hannah's voice in the recording, and… not out of character. But if he said that to anyone, it would be his head. So he kept his mouth shut and let event unfold as they were going to.

Hannah looked up at him with threatening eyes that only he could see.

"Aren't you happy with me, Cassie? Tell them that it isn't true, that they made that up!"

Castiel looked towards Gabe like a deer caught in headlights. A gaze that said _help me, please_. But it was too late. If he didn't do this, he'd face the wrath. And he couldn't take much more.

"I can't believe you'd do this, Gabe…" he said softly, turning back to Hannah. Her eyes were still glistening with tears, but her gaze was still fierce and threatening.

 _Not enough, keep going_ it said.

"You guys know I love Hannah… why would you do something in such a desperate attempt to hurt her?"

With that, Hannah stood up and yanked Castiel with her, as she left the cafeteria sniffling. Charlie watched from where she'd been across the table, mouth agape.

"I knew you didn't like Hannah, but _Jesus_ Gabe," she said, shaking her head. "You need to get in control of your jealousy."

Gabe slammed his fists into the table. "How can you not see what a fuckin' ruse she just pulled, Charlie?!" he shouted, causing students around them to snap their heads in their direction. "Why the hell would I go through so much effort to doctor a recording, those were real words that came out of her damn mouth!"

Charlie curled her fists at her side. "How am I supposed to believe you? It wouldn't be the first completely stupid and irrational thing you've done because you're blinded by your feelings."

Before things could get any more heated, Dean walked forward and placed an outstretched arm in front of Gabe. "If you won't believe him, Charlie, will you believe me?"

Charlie's gaze immediately softened. "I was with him yesterday afternoon. And… it isn't the first time she's approached me. She's not who you think she is, Charlie."

Gabe rested a reassuring hand on Dean's shoulder. He hadn't noticed it, but Dean had began to shake, tears welling in his eyes. "She's threatened me, and she's attacked me with all sorts of things about my dad and how I'm just like him, and…"

In a moment, Charlie's arms were wrapped around Dean and she was ushering him from the cafeteria, Gabe close behind them. Dean fell into Charlie's embrace and sobbed, telling her about how Hannah has threatened him with Castiel's safety and his own.

"I just don't know what to do anymore, Charlie… How do we help him?"

Charlie pulled away from the hug, humming thoughtfully. "Well, I'm sure Gabe has officially been banished from the table now too. But I know that she knows I wasn't involved in any of it. So, I'll keep close tabs on them. And if anything happens, you two will be the first to know."

"If it's serious enough, make sure it's the police who are the first ones to know, not us," Gabe muttered.

Charlie immediately went pale. "You… you think she'd hurt him that bad?"

Gabe and Dean both nodded.

"None of us know what she's capable of, but I expect nothing but the worst from her," Gabe confirmed.

Before too much longer, the bell rang, and lunch was over. The three of them got to their feet and fought the current back into the cafeteria to throw away their lunches and grab their things.

Within minutes of entering their classes, to absolutely nobody's surprise, Dean and Gabe were called to the principal's office. When they arrived, Hannah was inside, shoulders shaking with faked sobs and her mouth, each word escaping helping to form a more and more intricate lie.

Eventually, Hannah was excused. As she left, Gabe was called in. The door to the office closed, and Hannah brushed threateningly past Dean. She turned her head to peer over her shoulder, smirking.

"You wanna play dirty, Winchester? You've seen _nothing_ yet. I meant it when I said that I always get what I want."

"You don't scare me, Hannah," Dean said, unsure of where his sudden surge of confidence had come from. "I know you think you own this entire student body, but I'm not playing your games."

"Hmm," she said thoughtfully. "Well, you may not be interested in my _games_. But…"

She turned, grabbing Dean by the collar and yanking his face dangerously towards her own. "I know how interested you are in my _boyfriend_ , and if you want him to continue to be happy and… safe,"

Dean's face fell immediately, and Hannah's villainous smirk the only thing he could see.

"You might consider being a little more well-behaved, yes? No more stunts like whatever today was?"

Dean growled, shoving her away from him. "If you touch him, I'll kill you."

She simply shrugged. "Just a friendly suggestion, that's all."

She shot him her signature smile and gave a brief wave before she turned and stalked back towards her class.

Almost 30 minutes had passed before Gabe walked out of the principal's office. The principal followed, a grave expression crossing his features. Though, he didn't seem like he was that angry with them.

"This isn't the first time I've heard… unflattering images being painted of Miss Johnson," he said, his voice low and tired. He must get a lot of this from her, then. Even the principal of the school is at her mercy. He let out a deep sigh. "But, unfortunately, due to lack of evidence, I'm afraid there isn't much I can do. But, this so-called "stunt" you boys pulled doesn't seem worthy of any real punishment, so you are free to return to class."

With that, he shuffled back into his office and closed the door. Dean stood up and waltzed down the hall next to Gabe, neither of them saying a word.

Eventually, it was Dean who finally broke the silence.

"You're welcome to sit with Jo and I at lunch if you want, Gabe," Dean said thoughtfully when they'd arrived at his and Castiel's English class. Gabe gave him an amused smile.

"You're all right, Winchester," he said, clapping him on the shoulder. With that, Gabe shoved his hands in his pockets and made his way down the hall to his own class. Dean couldn't help his small smile as he opened the door and tried to avoid the prying eyes that burned through him as he walked back to his seat.


	10. Nine

Before they knew it, the night of Prom was among them. Dean had arrived at Jo's house just after 6, and he was feeling absolutely ecstatic. He was let inside by Jo's mother, Ellen, and he waited at the foot of the stairs, mindlessly fiddling with his suit sleeves. When Jo appeared at the top of the stairs and started walking down, Dean's jaw physically dropped.

Jo simply smiled at him. "What do you think?" she asked, posing at the bottom of the stairs.

"You look… beautiful. I have no words," Dean responded, his words so quiet he couldn't be sure if he'd thought them or said them out loud. Ellen came over and hastily pushed Dean towards Jo.

"Alright, you two, come on! Picture time!"

Dean pulled Jo close to him and smiled as Ellen took what felt like literally thousands of pictures. By the time she was done, all he saw were white flashes in his vision.

"Are we free to go now, mom?" Jo asked, giggling. Her mom pulled the two of them into a hug.

"Go have fun. Be safe. Have my girl home by midnight, Deannie."

Dean gave Ellen a salute. "Scouts honor, ma'am."

With that, the two of them left Jo's house and headed for Dean's car. He'd taken her to the car wash earlier that day to get her cleaned up for the occasion.

"Here she is. I know it isn't any limousine, but,"

"Ah ah ah, stop right there Winchester," Jo demanded. "You know none of that matters to me."

Dean gave Jo a sheepish grin. "Well, if nothing else, you deserve to be treated like a princess tonight."

Dean couldn't hide his satisfied smirk as Jo blushed. He waltzed over to the car and opened the passenger door open, letting her climb inside. After ensuring she was in, he gently closed the door and made his way to the driver's side.

"Now, I normally don't do this…" Dean started. "Since driver calls the shots on music, and passengers shut their cakeholes in my household, but…"

Dean pulled open the center console and turned on the overhead light. "Take your pick. Anything you want to listen to. The evening is yours, sweetheart."

Jo giggled and peaked into the console. "Oh! This one for sure! I love Guns N' Roses!"

Dean smirked. "Alright, girl's got taste."

He slid the tape into the cassette player and the car was filled with guitar riffs and mind-blowing vocals from Axl Rose.

"You know, we're probably setting ourselves up for disappointment," Jo started with a laugh. "There's no way they'll be playing _anything_ like this at that dance."

Dean shrugged. "As long as I'm there with you, I don't really care what's going on around us."

Jo blushed again and relaxed into her seat. "I never would have taken you for such a charmer, Winchester."

Dean laughed. "It's a work in progress. I used to be a real piece of shit."

Dean's smile faltered as he thought about Castiel. All the horrible things he'd done to that poor kid. The person who was supposed to be his best friend. He didn't realize he'd zoned out until he felt Jo tapping on his shoulder. He turned to eyes full of concern.

"Dean? Are you okay? You can't talk crap about yourself and zone out on me like that, you scared me."

Dean shook his head, clearing out his thoughts. "Sorry, it's just… Castiel Novak and I have some shaky history and, I don't ever want to hurt anyone like that again. I honestly still feel like he's forgiving me way to easily for what I did to him."

Jo smiled. "Yeah, Novak's a real sweetheart for sure. But, you seem like a really nice guy too, Dean. I'm sure he wouldn't forgive you if he wasn't sure that you were worth forgiving."

Dean nodded. "You're right. Castiel is nice, but he has standards for himself. That's probably one of the reasons why I like having him around so much."

Jo beamed at him. "It's so nice how much you two care about each other. A lot of people would think you guys were… you know. Not straight. It isn't _manly_ to care about your friends and all that jazz."

Dean froze up. "Y-yeah, haha." If Jo had noticed his sudden bought of nerves, she made no indication of it, because she didn't press him on it any further.

Once the tension eased from Dean's shoulders, the rest of the ride to the dance passed in a comfortable silence. Dean pulled into a parking space and slid out of the car before making his way to the passenger side and letting Jo out. He offered her his arm as they made their way to the entrance. They handed in their tickets and walked inside, immediately greeted by the harsh beating of the music the DJ was playing, and several handfuls of teenagers dancing in ways that were way above the suggested PG-13 levels.

Several groups of students also already reeked of alcohol and weed, and Dean groaned. It was going to be an interesting night for sure. Luckily, it didn't take him and Jo long to find Castiel and his group of friends standing in the far corner. Castiel stood awkwardly next to Hannah as Gabe and Charlie did… whatever it was that they were doing.

At first Dean felt anxious walking over to them with Hannah being in such close proximity. But… what the hell, it was their prom night, and it was safe for him to say that Charlie and Gabe were his friends too. He gave a small, determined nod and led Jo and himself across the dance floor.

"Is that what they call dancing these days?" Dean teased as he walked up, Jo giggling beside him.

"Oh, come on!" Charlie cried, shooting him a wounded look. "I'm a white girl, I can't help it that I dance like this!"

"She's also a lesbian dancing with a disaster bisexual, so she really didn't get the luck of the draw today," Gabe added. Charlie threw an arm over his shoulders, doubling over in laughter.

"Oh, come on, Gabe. You're only a disaster bi like… 98 percent of the time?"

Hannah rolled her eyes before grabbing Castiel by the arm and dragging him away from them. Dean caught her face out of the corner of his eye; he didn't like what he saw at all. Her eyes looked bored and she was clearly not a fan of Castiel's friends. And someone who didn't immediately fall in love with those goofballs couldn't be a pleasant person to be around. His heart sank for Castiel all over again.

"What's up with her?" Dean asked, failing miserably at keeping the disgust out of his voice.

Charlie shrugged. "Dunno. Castiel has been pretty reluctant to dance with her or anything, so she might be a bit upset about that. Don't blame her; Castiel was the one who asked her, so he should be more _present_ at this thing. But he's hardly said a word to her this whole night."

"He's just nervous, she should cut him some slack," Dean snapped back, still eyeing the pair of them as Hannah continued dragging Castiel away from them.

Charlie threw her hands up. "Easy, I'm not attacking. Just making observations. I'm not on anyone's side here, I just want us all to have a good time."

As if through prayer, the conversation changed with the music. Jo tugged on Dean's sleeve excitedly, and Dean was met with her beaming smile. It was hard to not feel relaxed in her presence. "Oh, Dean, I love this song! Can we go dance! Please?"

Dean smiled. "No please necessary, sweetheart. Let's go."

The two of them made their way to the dance floor. He couldn't help the double take as he watched Hannah and Castiel dancing across the room. Castiel looked like a prisoner in his own skin, and Dean hated everything about it. But he shook his head and tried to stay focused on Jo, the brilliant ball of energy she was standing in front of him. Castiel was his own person, he could figure this out. He smiled and felt his guard come down, even if it was just for tonight.

The dance had passed with no incident and it was nearing 11:30, which meant that Dean had to bring Jo home soon. Dean almost mentally patted himself on the back for not getting involved with Castiel and Hannah. That was, until out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Hannah shoved Castiel into the wall of a darker corner in the venue; he could just barely make out her figure jabbing a threatening finger into Castiel's chest before she brought a firm slap across his face. From the gasp next to him, he could tell that Jo had seen it too. His blood boiled, and he couldn't stop himself from storming over to them, Jo close on his heel. Charlie and Gabe were quick to follow as soon as they'd seen that Dean was on the move.

"Hey, what the hell was that all about, Johnson? You make a habit out of beating your boyfriends up?"

Castiel's head whipped around, his eyes panicked. "No, Dean, it's okay! It's not her fault, I…"

"Castiel, don't… don't you dare finish that sentence," Dean growled, turning to him. "I've watched her push you around since you asked her out, and I'm done sitting by and watching. Nothing is okay about her hitting you. Nothing is okay about the hell she's put you through for these past 2 months. Not a _goddamn_ thing."

He turned back to Hannah and took another step towards her. "I knew you were doing this shit to him! I knew it that first day you dragged him away. What, you have such a poisonous personality that the only way you can get people to like you is by treating them like shit? What the hell is _wrong_ with you?"

Hannah didn't budge, keeping her gaze steady and unphased against him. "I don't know if you've heard the news or not, _Deannie_ , but Castiel doesn't swing that way. This whole _chivalry_ act you've been trying to pull while he and I have been together is so exhausting. You and I both know you're just trying to get in his pants with all of this, so it is truly bold of you to think that you're so much better than me. Especially after everything you've already done to hurt him for the past, what, eight years?" She smirked as she looked down to observe her nails, blowing on them nonchalantly. "Nothing that I've done is worse than all the hell _you_ put him through, Winchester."

Dean's gaze hardened. He wasn't going to let her take him down with her words again. That's all they were… just words. She couldn't do anything to him now. Not that everyone knew what a monster she truly was. He knows he and Jo weren't the only ones who saw that. "So is that how you justify all this?" he asked, gesturing towards a still shaken Castiel with a reddening cheek. "You're not as horrible as me? You don't think someone like Castiel Novak is worth of the utmost love and affection?"

Hannah laughed. "He's not worth anything but the status sign to me, Winchester. Two members of student government dating is the ultimate power couple; it's just a way for me to maintain my power here."

Out of the corner of his eye, Dean watched as Castiel's face fell. If his heart hadn't already cracked in two, it had now. He wanted so badly to pull Castiel away from Hannah and into a hug, to take him home and wrap him in his favorite blanket and just sit with him until he felt better.

But that had to wait.

"Oh, and don't bother telling everyone about our little encounter here…" Hannah informed them with a malevolent grin. "No one will believe you."

Dean felt that he was visibly shaking at this point. "How dare you talk about him like that." He took another step towards her, but he stopped in his tracks as Hannah began to yell out.

In the blink of an eye, Hannah had brought her own hand across her face, screaming out in pain. Dean threw his arms out in front of him and backed away. Jo grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him further back towards where Castiel was standing. There was no telling who she would try to hit next. Gabe and Charlie followed suit and joined them where they stood by Castiel.

"Oh my god, Dean Winchester just _hit_ me! Somebody, get him out of here! Call the police!"

"What the hell is _wrong with you_?" Jo sneered from beside Dean. Before anyone could do anything else, Castiel finally spoke.

"Dean, please, just go…" Castiel begged. Dean reached out to him, but Castiel just shook his head and slapped his hand away. "Just leave me alone!" he shouted, his eyes pleading and tears flowing freely. "You did that well enough for 8 years, you're just making everything worse for me by being back!"

The breath caught in Dean's throat, and he'd never felt so much pain course through him with just a set of words from someone's mouth. He searched Castiel's eyes for something, _anything_ that would indicate that he hadn't meant those words. Anything to show him that it was just an act to appease Hannah.

He was only met with anger. Deep, deep anger.

"Cas?"

"Dean? Babe, come on. Let's go…" Jo urged gently beside him, trying to pull him away from the scene.

Jo pulled Dean away from the crowd that had started gathering around them to see what was going on; Gabe and Charlie gathered at either side of Castiel, ushering him away from Hannah. Several of them were shaking their heads; at least if nothing else came of the evening, they'd seen how absolutely insane Hannah Johnson was. Everyone had watched her slap herself silly and try to blame it on Dean.

When they'd made it outside, Jo whipped around, grabbing Dean by the shoulders. He was downright sobbing at this point; he felt absolutely pathetic

"Jo, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry."

Jo hushed him as she pulled him into a hug. "You don't have to apologize to me."

"I just… I wanted to protect him. For once. Instead of being the piece of shit friend I am. But instead, he's hurting worse than ever, and I ruined your night."

Dean pulled away from the hug and fell against the wall, sliding down and burying his head in his arms. "I can't ever do anything right, can I?"

Jo sat down next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"No, Dean. You did the right thing. I don't know why Castiel freaked out on you like that. But it definitely would have been worse if you watched it happen and didn't do anything."

Dean stayed silent. She sat down next to him and rested a gentle hand on his knee. "And… you didn't ruin my night Dean."

He turned towards her and gave her a disapproving look. "You don't have to lie to make me feel better, Jo. You deserve better than what I gave you."

Jo giggled and shook her head. "You danced to the stupid pop music I like with me, you let me pick the music in the car, you've been such a gentleman these past few weeks… I really couldn't have asked for a better prom date, Dean."

Dean chuckled under his breath. "At least I'm not batshit crazy, I guess."

Jo laughed beside him, and he couldn't help his smile. "You have such a calming presence, Jo. I don't know how you do it."

She shrugged. "Probably get it from my mom. She's the same way."

With that, Dean panicked, fishing for his phone. Were they late? He turned on the screen to see that it was nearing midnight.

"Crap, we're gonna be late! Your mom's gonna kill me."

Jo shook her head and held out her own phone, with a text to her mother saying there was drama at the dance, she and Dean were fine, and she was going to be home late. "Already taken care of," she said sweetly, smirking.

Dean let out a relieved sigh, leaning back against the wall. "Talk about best prom date ever."

They sat there like that for a few moments. Dean shot a text to Charlie.

 ** _Dean:_**

 ** _I'm sure you and Gabe are already on it, but please make sure Cas gets home safe. And… keep me posted? 11:57PM_**

Dean took a shaky breath and let his head fall back against the wall, the phone resting in his hand. Silence. Silent tears fell down his face, staining his cheeks. "You really do deserve better than me, Jo. I'm really sorry about tonight. I wanted you to have a good time, and I ruined it by trying to jump into the middle of something I know I shouldn't have… Will you let me make it up to you?"

Jo shook her head, smiling. "You have nothing to make up for, Winchester. You were trying to protect your friend, and I think that's really noble of you. And like I've already told you, I still had a lot of fun." Jo smiled sweetly, then paused, thinking for a moment. "…but if you want to take me out on a second date, I might be inclined to say yes. Hopefully we won't have to swoop in and save Castiel next time around."

Dean smiled, shaking his head. "Let me take you out to dinner. Just the two of us, no crazy school dances. Just us." Dean stood up and offered his hand to Jo and pulled her up as well. Jo couldn't help the blush that crossed her cheeks. After she stood up, she shook Dean's hand wildly. "You have yourself a deal, Winchester."

Dean smiled, and he suddenly realized how… pretty Jo's eyes looked with the faded lights from inside dancing in her irises. He brought a hand up to her cheek and rubbed against her jawline.

"You're so amazing, Jo. Really."

Jo laughed. "You're not too bad yourself, Winchester."

Time moved in slow motion. Dean wrapped his other hand around Jo's waist before pulling her into a kiss. It was soft, chaste, but still brilliant and breath-taking. They broke away after only a moment, heat flushed in both of their cheeks. Hand in hand, the two of them made their way back to Dean's car, and Dean drove Jo home.

He walked her to the front door and gave her another chaste kiss on the lips before the door was swung open. Dean gave a sheepish smile to Jo's mother as Jo walked inside, giggling. Ellen turned and watched her daughter as she walked inside before turning back to Dean, returning a genuine smile.

"You're a good kid, Dean. Thanks for taking care of my baby tonight."

Dean nodded. "Any time, Ellen. She's a delight. Tell her I said goodnight."

"Of course."

With that, the front door closed, and Dean walked back to his car, time slowing down around him. Jo really was a delight, and he absolutely loved her company. He hoped he could make this work. He wanted to make this work.

 **Charlie:  
Hey Dean-o! Cas is alright. He's shaken, but alright. He's home safe and Gabe's gonna spend the night with him.**

 **I think he feels really bad about what he said to you. He wouldn't stop asking us if you were okay. Are you? 12:43AM**

Dean groaned as his phone vibrated on the bed next to him. Of course he forgot to turn his phone off.

As soon as he'd gotten home, he'd sat down and talked to his mom for a few minutes before heading up to bed. Sam was fast asleep in _his_ bed, even though he had told him he was going to be out late tonight, so they wouldn't be able to play any video games together. Nevertheless, he opted to fall into the bed in the guest bedroom, so he wouldn't wake him up. As soon as his head hit the pillow he was gone.

He squinted at the notifications on the screen. There was a missed text from Charlie, and… a text had just come in from Castiel.

 **Cas:  
Dean? I owe you an apology. 1:03AM**

 ** _Dean:  
I'm sorry I got my nose in business that wasn't mine. I just… has she always treated you like that? 1:05AM_**

It was several minutes before Dean got a response.

 **Cas:  
I should have listened to you and Gabe. She… she was so controlling. She hit me and told me that I couldn't be friends with you because you liked me, or something like that. When I told her that it wasn't okay for her to be that upset over me being friends with you, even if you did like me (which I know you don't), she started hitting me and shoving me around. She told me that she had an 'image to maintain' and didn't need it to be soiled by me 'fooling around with anyone else.'**

 **Needless to say, Hannah and I won't be seeing each other anymore. After you left, Charlie and Gabe ran over and broke everything up. They told Hannah not to come near me ever again or they were going to take out a restraining order. I got taken care of.**

 **I'm sorry I tried to push you away when you were trying to protect me. I don't deserve you, Dean. 1:10AM**

Dean's heart thumped. He'd never seen the words out in the open like that before.

 _Me… having a crush? On Cas?_

Sure, Castiel was hot. A very attractive man. He was smart, friendly, he had a smile that lit up an entire room and his laughter set his heart aflame—

 _Shit…_

 ** _Dean:  
Don't you dare. You deserve the world, Castiel. 1:11AM_**

 **Cas:  
Oh man, I know you're serious because you used my full name. You're such a charmer. 1:13AM**

 ** _Dean:  
Cas, I'm serious. You deserve the world, and I'm sorry that someone like Hannah was trying so hard to drag you down below what you're worth. When she told me that she was just using you, that she didn't care about you, I lost it, Cas. I 1:14AM_**

 ** _Dean:  
I just hope you find someone who treats you right someday. Someone who doesn't hit you, and someone who doesn't ignore you for 8 years because they're shitty people. 1:15AM_**

 **Cas:  
Dean, you know I already forgave you for that. I'm sorry about lashing out at you like that… I didn't mean any of it, I shouldn't have said it. I know it must have hurt you. 1:16AM**

 ** _Dean:  
It's been a long time coming. I'd rather get chewed out by you, because I know I hurt you the most. 1:17AM_**

 **Cas:  
Please don't be so hard on yourself. 1:18AM**

Dean wasn't sure about how to respond.

 ** _Dean:  
…its hard. its really damn hard. 1:23AM_**

With that, Dean turned his phone on silent and rolled over. He was sure Castiel was tired, and he was always determined to get the last word in a text conversation. So, he figured this way at least Castiel would be able to get some sleep once he realized the conversation was over for the night.


	11. Ten

Castiel woke up to rows of sunlight across his eyelids. His night had been sleepless, but he felt rested enough. He rolled over onto his back and laid there motionless, staring at the ceiling for what felt like an eternity.

 _I've got to be the worst person in the world_ , he thought to himself. He rolled over and picked up his phone. He reread Dean's text over and over again. He'd never seen him so vulnerable. Not even when they were kids and he was leaving for California. He'd been sad, but still not so vulnerable as he was now.

 **Dean:  
…its hard. its really damn hard. 1:23AM**

His heart ached.

 **Dean:  
** **When she told me that she was just using you, that she didn't care about you, I lost it, Cas. I 1:14AM**

His heart… fluttered… what did he want to say that he didn't finish? Was it just a typo or was he going to say something else?

He groaned and let the phone fall from his hand and threw an arm over his face.

How could he say something like that? To Dean, of all people? His longest friend, the one he'd thought he'd lost forever. The man who brings light and laughter into his days and sends jolts of electricity through him whenever their hands brush or they sit just a little closer to each other at lunch than usual. He shook his head violently and sat up, getting up to shower and get ready to do absolutely nothing for the last day of his weekend.

And just as he wanted, he spent the day lazing around his room. He mindlessly played video games between bouts of homework. At the end of the night, his fingers hovered tentavily over send before he thought _screw it_ and sent the message before dropping his phone onto the night stand and going to sleep.

 ** _Cas:  
Can we talk tomorrow? 9:54PM_**

Dean and Castiel sat down together at lunch the following Monday. Dean mindlessly picked at his food, trying not to let his anxiety take him down through the spiral that was surely coming. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Cas opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it. Where did he even start? I'm sorry that I was a total dick for the past few months, I'm sorry about all the shitty stuff my ex-girlfriend said to you, I'm sorry that—

"I'm sorry," he blurted out suddenly. Dean only met him with confusion written across his features.

"Sorry about what?" he asked, actually sounding clueless. Castiel sighed.

"You know what. I'm sorry for… for all the things Hannah must have done to you, to keep you away from me. I was scared, but… I wasn't clueless. I know she approached you on more than one occasion and did horrible things to you."

Castiel shook his head. _No_ , he thought. _I won't cry about her again. She doesn't control me anymore_.

"I should have stepped up, I shouldn't have let her—."

"Hey," Dean started, putting his hands on Castiel's shoulders. "None of this is your fault, okay? She… she manipulated and abused you, you didn't ask for any of this."

Without thinking, Dean's hands fell to Castiel's, lightly grabbing them. Dean watched as Castiel's face lit up with a blush, but he made no motion to move away. He looked up, eyes curious. Dean simply smiled back at him. That's it, just a smile. But Castiel felt his breath hitch and his heart stop.

 _Wow, he's so_ —

"Hey, Dean, Cassie? Everything alright?"

Charlie was rapidly approaching the table. Dean pulled his hands away and scrambled back towards his lunch, face reddening from embarrassment.

"Y-yeah," Dean stuttered. "We talked a little over the weekend, and I think everything's good now." He shook his head, shaking out his hair, willing for the subject to change.

"What's the word on Hannah?" Castiel asked, his voice still wavering with the utterance of her name.

"She's at least suspended right now," Charlie said. "It's likely she'll get expelled because now that her true likeness has been exposed, well… _lots_ of other people are coming forward with their experiences. It's honestly horrifying."

Charlie sat down with a thud into the seat across the table. She reached out and grabbed Castiel's hands.

"I'm really sorry, Cassie. I'm sorry I couldn't see how much she was hurting you. I just wanted you to be happy, and I thought Hannah was the person who could give you that." The apologetic smile on her face was immediately wiped away by an onslaught of tears. "I couldn't have been any more wrong if I tried."

Castiel simply squeezed Charlie's hands. "You were there for me when I needed you most; that's all I can ask of you, Charlie. I still love you, you know," he added, giving a playful squeeze. "So you don't have to beg for my forgiveness or anything."

Gabriel was the last to join them at the table, white knuckles gripping on to the lunch tray a bit harder than what was probably necessary. He sat down and was met with uncomfortable silence from all members at the table. He took a deep breath before looking up, making direct eye contact with Castiel.

"You can say you told me so," Castiel started, not breaking eye contact no matter how much he wanted to. "It's okay."

Without warning, Gabriel stood up and walked over to where Castiel sat. He leaned down and pulled him into one of the tightest hugs they'd ever shared. Unsure of what else to do, Castiel simply hugged onto one of Gabriel's arms.

"I'm glad you're safe, Cas. That's all that matters to me. Not some dumb, petty 'I told you so' nonsense."

He released Castiel from his grip and returned to his lunch. "Word on the street is that we won't be seeing any more of Hannah. I think she's officially on the brink of expulsion."

Charlie shook her head. "I can't believe she actually thought her terrible actions wouldn't catch up to her sooner or later. Karma's a bad bitch and she's got _receipts_ ," Charlie said matter-of-factly, punctuating her point with a slap to the table top.

Castiel couldn't help his snort of laughter. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed his friends. He couldn't believe how distant he'd been forced to be from all of them, especially Dean. He'd seen them every day, but now it felt like it was the first time he'd seen them in months.

The rest of the day passed in a slow calm, and with absolutely no sign of Hannah. For the first time in forever, it felt like the entire student body was breathing just a little bit easier.

At the end of the day, Dean flagged down Jo and she stopped, waiting for him as he caught up to her.

"So, I was thinking that I could take you to that new restaurant that just opened in town. And then," he said, a signature smirk crossing his lips. "I have a secret surprise for you afterwards."

Jo giggled, smiling at him. "Really going all out with this, aren't you?"

Dean shrugged. "You deserve it, you know? You're so awesome and I've gotta repay you somehow."

Jo planted a sweet kiss to Dean's cheek. Her phone started buzzing in her pocket and she pulled it out.

"Oh, that's my mom. Gotta go help out at the bar tonight. I'll see you later!"

She ran off towards the school exit, and Dean smiled after her. Castiel suddenly appeared at his side, spooking him out of his trance.

"So, you and Jo, huh?" he asked, a teasing lilt to his voice.

Dean blushed. "Yeah. She's really cool. I'm glad Charlie forced me to talk to her that first time."

Castiel gave a small grunt and looked away, but not before Dean caught something in his gaze. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought it was jealousy.

 _But Cas is totally straight. So, there's no way that he'd be jealous of me and Jo. Or anyone else._

But just because it didn't make sense didn't mean that Dean wouldn't spend every night for the rest of the week falling asleep to the thought of Castiel maybe… _just_ maybe being jealous about him being with someone else. The thought of Castiel maybe disliking the idea of Dean going on a date with someone that wasn't him. The thought of Castiel maybe wanting something more than friendship with his childhood best friend.

And every night, Dean desperately shoved the thoughts into the deep, dark corners of his mind. Castiel was Dean's best friend. And he didn't have a crush on his best friend. No way.

The end of the week rapidly approached, and Dean was overcome with nervous sweats while he approached Jo's house for a second time. He was actually taking her out on an official date, not just to some lame school dance. And he was nervous. His mom assured him that he looked great and all he had to do was "be himself" and everything would work out.

But that didn't make him any less nervous. And his nerves absolutely skyrocketed when he was greeted by the ethereal goddess that was Jo Harvelle, ready to accompany him on the date he'd planned. He'd just planned a simple dinner followed by a walk through a nearby park. It was a quiet place in the middle of town, but not so secluded to the point where they'd feel unsafe walking through it as it got darker outside.

The dinner portion of the date went well. They laughed and talked like they always had before. But Dean had this unsettling weight in the pit of his stomach, threatening to overcome him.

"Dean?" Jo asked suddenly. He hadn't realized she'd asked him a question about something. Not only did he not answer, he wasn't even sure if he'd heard the question in the first place.

"…yeah?" he responded, trying desperately to pull himself back to the surface.

 _I just need to stop freaking out. Nothing is wrong. We're here together, and we're having a good time. We'd have an even better time if I could pull my head out of my ass._

"Dean? Are you okay?" Jo asked again, reaching out to grab one of Dean's hands. "You've been really distant tonight. Do we need to reschedule again?"

"No, no," Dean said suddenly, successfully dragging himself out of the anxiety, if for just a moment. "I'm sorry, I'm just… there's a lot on my mind right now."

 _If by a lot you mean Castiel, then yeah… a lot_ is _on my mind_ , he thought to himself, not daring to say any of that out loud. He was sure Jo was already suspicious of his feelings towards Castiel after how he reacted at the dance.

 _We're just friends, he and I. Nothing more. Never more._

He literally had the world's most awesome date in front of him right now, and all he could think about what his friend. He couldn't be more of a dick if he tried.

Jo gave him a sympathetic smile. "You know you can talk to me, Winchester. We don't have to be the awkward boy and girl on a first date."

Dean chuckled. "Yeah, I know. You're right."

The rest of dinner passed without incident. The check came, and Dean paid, much to Jo's dismay. Then he stood and offered her his arm. The drive to the park was silent, mostly because he was terrible at keeping secrets and this part of the date was supposed to be a surprise. The night was exceptionally clear, which meant that they could see the stars starting to pop out in the night sky. What's more romantic than star gazing?

That would get him out of whatever funk he was in thinking about Castiel.

…

Right?

Dean tried so hard to be present, but the thoughts wouldn't stop coming.

 _I wonder if Castiel would ever do something like this with me._

He squeezes Jo's hand in his ever so slightly, trying to pull himself back into the moment.

He turned and looked at Jo, who was eyeing him with concern again. She sat up on the picnic table they'd laid on, looking down at him.

"You're thinking about him, aren't you?"

Dean shook his head, sitting up himself.

"What do you mean?"

Jo gave him an unimpressed look. "You know exactly who I'm talking about, Dean."

Dean blushed furiously, but Jo probably couldn't tell in the dim light of the few lamps that lit the trail they were on.

"I… I'm sorry…"

Jo sighed, and she stayed silent for a long time. Dean opened his mouth to speak, to say _something_ , but nothing came to him. He didn't know what to say.

"Do you have feelings for him?"

Dean's breath caught in his throat. "No!" he immediately exclaimed, hardly able to convince himself that he was telling the truth. He knew Jo saw right through him based on the look she was giving him.

"Why did you ask me out if you liked him?" she asked, her voice breaking ever so slightly.

 _Shit… this wasn't supposed to happen._

"Jo, I…"

"You know what… just save it, okay? I'm going home. Thanks for dinner, I guess."

With that, Jo hopped from the table and stormed down the trail headed for the park exit.

"Jo, wait!" Dean called out, chasing after her. He caught up to her and lightly grabbed her arm, but she ripped it away.

"Leave me alone, Dean," she warned. Her voice was broken. She was crying.

"Jo, I'm sorry. I… I really like you, okay? You're so amazing, and I wanted us to work. I'm sorry."

Jo suddenly stopped walking, and Dean almost ran into her. She turned around and looked at him with such a hurt expression that Dean wanted to punch himself in the face.

"I didn't want to hurt you… I, I don't know what to say. I know I can't make this up to you, but please… at least let me drive you home? I don't want you to get hurt because I'm an idiot."

Jo shook her head. "Why didn't you just tell me at the dance that your feelings had changed?"

"Because… they hadn't. At least, I didn't realize it if they did."

Jo scoffed, crossing her arms across her chest and turning away from him again. "So, what? You just happened to fall in love with Castiel between last weekend and now?"

Dean was silent. He reached up to rub the back of his head.

"Would you believe me if I said yes? Because that's honestly how it feels…"

Jo groaned in frustration and started walking away again.

"Jo, please! Please stop. Please, let me at least drive you home? Then I promise you'll never have to look at me again."

Jo stopped again.

"That's what hurts, Dean. I don't want to have to never look at you again. I… I really liked you, you idiot," she muttered under shaky breath, trying desperately to keep more tears from falling.

Dean sighed. "I'm sorry I couldn't be better for you, Jo. I really am."

Jo sniffled and rubbed her eyes. "Can you just take me home, please."

Dean nodded and walked ahead of her, leading the two of them back to his car. They drove in tense silence. When Dean pulled into Jo's driveway, they both released their breaths like they'd been holding them the whole way there.

"I know I was a shitty excuse for a date, but… your friendship means the world to me, Jo," Dean said softly, turning to look at her. She stared out her window, her hand resting on the handle. It was halfway pulled open, as though she'd stopped everything to think about what he'd just said.

Then she laughed. Dean reeled back against his own door. Had he done something wrong?

But she turned to him, and she was sincere.

"You were a shitty excuse for a date," she said, causing Dean to flush in embarrassment.

"But," she continued. This next part, Dean wasn't expecting.

"I guess I should have guessed. Everyone sees the way you look at him."

She shook her head. "I don't hate you or anything. I don't think I ever could. But… this sucks, Dean."

With that, she leaned over and gave him a tight hug. He hugged back, never wanting to let go. It felt as though it was going to be the last time he ever saw her.

"Stay out of trouble, Winchester," she joked, her voice cracking slightly from tears that still wanted to fall. "I'll see you later."

With that she pulled away and got out of the car, the door slamming behind her, leaving Dean with his own deafening thoughts. Dean took a shaky breath and waited to make sure Jo got safely inside before he pulled out of the driveway and headed home himself. Luckily his mom and Sam were passed out on the couch when he got home, some animated movie playing on the tv. He crept up to his room and closed the door before shedding his clothes and falling into bed. He pulled out his phone. He had several missed texts. All from Castiel.

 **Castiel:  
** **Hey, I know you have your date with Jo tonight. But if you want, we can do something tomorrow. I'm free all day. :) 8:36PM**

Dean's heart threatened to beat out of his chest. It had been so long since Castiel had even _looked_ in his direction.

He was… he was actually interested in spending time together again.

It was almost midnight now, so it was a crapshoot as to whether or not he was still awake. But he responded anyway.

 ** _Dean:  
Meet up by the tree at like 10? 11:48PM_**

Dean watched the screen in anticipation, not even sure why he was so anxious. He was going to respond eventually. Hannah didn't control him anymore, and he wasn't moving across the country again.

For once in his life, Dean was finally within reach of his best friend. And his heart swelled with happiness and… something else that Dean couldn't quite place.

…

 **Castiel:  
Can't wait. :) 11:52PM**

…

 ** _Dean:  
Oh god why are you still awake? 11:53PM_**

 **Castiel:  
Just can't sleep. 11:54PM**

 ** _Dean:  
Me either. Tonight was a disaster. 11:54PM_**

 **Castiel:  
What happened?  
It's okay if you don't want to talk about it though. I understand. 11:56PM**

Dean sucked in a breath. What did he want to say? What did he want Cas to know? He wanted him to know everything… he was his best friend after all.

 ** _Dean:  
Things didn't work out with Jo. I think we'll be cool again someday but… not right now. 11:57PM_**

 **Castiel:  
Crap, man. I'm sorry to hear that. What happened? 11:59PM**

The clock downstairs chimed 12 times.

 ** _Dean:  
I like someone else. 12:00AM_**


	12. Eleven

Dean sat against the tree, absentmindedly picking at his nails. It was only 9:43, and they'd agreed to meet at 10. So, it wasn't like Castiel was late or anything.

And even then, this wasn't a date. Not at all. Just two friends hanging out over the weekend.

Dean released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

Why was he so nervous?

He opened up his phone and scrolled through their messages. He'd never responded to Castiel's last text.

 **Castiel:  
Someone else? Oooh, who's the lucky lady, then? ;) 12:02AM**

What the fuck did he even say? Why did he text that the _day_ he broke up with Jo, was he really a whole fucking idiot?

Dean looked up and saw a familiar figure walking towards the tree. He felt his heart fall into the pit of his stomach.

 _Fuck… I_ am _a whole fucking idiot_.

"Just stay calm, Winchester," he muttered to himself. "Play it cool."

He looked up and mustered the fakest smile he ever had in his damn life as Castiel waved at him. He was beaming; he must have been as excited as Dean was to hang out with him again.

 _So cute…_

Dean shook his head. _Nope. We are not doing that. Not today_.

Eventually Castiel made it to the tree and flopped down in the grass next to Dean. The two of them sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. Castiel was the first to speak.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. Dean shook his head.

"Dude, seriously. You have _nothing_ to be sorry for, okay?" Dean said, nudging Castiel with his shoulder. "Everything's gonna get better now. I promise."

Castiel smiled at that. "You're too nice. I'm lucky to have you as a friend, Dean."

Castiel's eyes lit up. "Oh! Speaking of lucky…"

 _Shit._ Dean went into full panic mode. _Please, please, please don't ask me what you're about to ask me._

"Who's got your heartstrings wrapped around their finger if it isn't Jo? I'll be honest, you two seemed perfect for each other. I was more than a little shocked when you told me things didn't work out."

Dean rubbed his arm, shrinking in to himself. What the fuck was he supposed to say?"

Castiel gave him a concerned look. "Are you okay, Dean? If it's too much, you know you don't have to tell me."

Dean let out a sigh of relief.

"I just… don't know how it's going to work yet. I think it would be best if I just kept it to myself…"

That did nothing to ease the worry across Castiel's face, but he didn't push it further. "Do what makes you comfortable, dude. But just so you know… you can tell me anything, Dean. I'll never think ill of you."

 _I love you_. Dean thought.

"Thanks, Cas. That means a lot."

Dean closed his eyes and leaned back against the tree. It was so surreal to be here with Castiel again, all these years later. God he'd missed this. When things were getting rough between his parents, he wanted nothing more than to come back to this tree and sit next to Castiel. He'd always had such a comforting presence. It honestly rivaled his mother's sometimes.

"Is there anything in particular you wanted to do today?" Dean asked.

Castiel just shrugged. "We've got that English midterm next week. If you want, you could come over and study. I'm sure my parents would love to see you again."

Dean's heart fluttered. Would… would Castiel's parents even like him? Castiel had gone through so much shit because of him being a terrible friend all those years. The only reason they should love to see him is so they could clock him right in the face.

"Are you… are you sure they wouldn't hate me?"

Castiel snorted. "Dean, be serious. They could never."

Dean hesitated. "Do they even know I'm back?"

Castiel nodded. "Yeah, I've told them. They seemed almost happier than I was," he said with a chuckle.

Dean shook his head with disbelief, but he laughed too. "Well, I suppose I could use some studying. But I'll have to go back to my place to grab some stuff first."

Castiel's eyes lit up. "Does this mean I get to see Sam? I haven't seen him since he was, like, an actual baby!"

Dean laughed and stood up. He offered a hand to Castiel to hoist him up as well. They walked together in comfortable silence towards Dean's house. When they walked in they were greeted by the pleasant smell of bacon and eggs cooking in the kitchen. Sam lay across the couch in the living room, watching some cartoons absentmindedly.

"Dean, honey? Is that you?" his mother called, walking towards the door. Her eyes lit up when she saw the boy standing next to him.

"Oh my God," she said softly, rushing forward and pulling Castiel into a hug. "It's been so long!" she pulled back, beaming up at the mop of dark hair in front of her. "How have you been? How are your parents? Lucas? Oh, I'm so glad to see you again, Castiel!"

Dean couldn't help the grin that spread across his face as he watched his mom dote over Castiel for the first time in such a long time.

Castiel laughed as he absorbed all of the questions from Dean's mother. "Oh, my parents are doing really well. They were excited to hear that you guys moved back in. Luke's doing great, too! He's up at college, so it's been a little lonely at home without him." Castiel rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I was actually going to invite Dean over today so we could study together, if that's alright?"

Dean's mother shot him a mischievous smile, which sent a blush creeping across Dean's cheeks. "Of course! But I couldn't send you boys off without some breakfast!"

At that, she turned and waltzed back into the kitchen to finish preparing the food. Dean made his way towards the stairs, and motioned for Castiel to follow him. They made their way upstairs and Dean got his things together that he'd need to study.

Castiel wandered around the room. He smiled at all the posters and CDs that lined his walls and sat in stacks on his dresser. He stopped at a picture that sat on his desk: it was a picture of himself, Sam, and their parents. His father's figure was there, but his face had been crudely cut out of the photo.

"I'm really sorry about everything that happened with your dad, Dean."

Dean stopped moving. He turned around to look at the picture, and took a deep breath. "No need to apologize. It is what it is, I guess."

Castiel shook his head. "I know, but… all those years, I was so depressed. I had friends and my family. I shouldn't have been so… so…"

Dean walked over to Castiel and pulled him into a hug. "Stop that, Cas. The pain I caused you isn't justified by the pain I've been through. I was a shitty friend, and you had every right to be hurt by that."

Castiel melted into the hug. Dean swore he could've stayed like that forever, if it wasn't for his mom shouting up the stairs to tell them that breakfast was ready. Dean shoved the rest of his things into his bag and slung it over his shoulder before they went downstairs.

The morning was filled with laughter from all the Winchesters and their guest; it warmed Dean's heart to see his family look so happy. Especially his mom. She'd been through the wringer, and she deserved all the happiness in the world.

Castiel tried to insist on helping to clean up after breakfast, but Dean's mother heard nothing of it. She enlisted in Sam's help, much to his dissatisfaction as the next episode of his cartoon had just started.

"You boys go have fun!" she insisted. "I'll see you for dinner, Dean. And it was so wonderful to see you again, Castiel!"

With one last (very tight) hug from his mother, Dean and Castiel left for the short trek to Castiel's house. Dean tried to fight off the intense nerves.

 _Everything is fine_ , he thought. _Cas said that they don't hate me, so there's nothing to worry about_.

Despite all his pep talk, Dean couldn't fight the lump of nervousness in his throat as they grew closer to that oh-so-familiar house down the street.


	13. Twelve

Castiel swung his front door open and walked in, kicking off his shoes.

"Mom! Dad! I'm home, and Dean's here!"

"Are you sure they don't hate me?" Dean asked, his voice a hushed whisper. Castiel simply shook his head and laughed. He didn't even bother answering as his parents came bustling down the stairs.

"Dean Winchester, is that really you?!" Castiel's mother asked, running up to him and pulling him into a hug. She stepped back and held him by the shoulders, giving him a once over.

"My goodness, the last time we saw you, you were just a baby. Look how much you've grown!"

Dean blushed under the scrutiny of Castiel's parents. "Yeah… it has been a while, huh?"

"Well, I'll tell you what Dean," Castiel's father started, beaming. "I haven't seen Castiel so happy as he was when he found out you were back in town."

It was Castiel's turn to blush. "Great, thanks Dad. We're gonna head upstairs to study now."

"Oh, Dean, are you staying for dinner?" Castiel's mother asked, her face pleading.

Dean stuttered. "Oh… uh, well, I told my mom I'd be home for dinner…"

Mrs. Novak's face fell. "Oh… well, if she wouldn't mind us stealing you away for an evening, we'd love to have you!"

Dean looked down. "Are you sure, Mrs. Novak? I don't want to cause any trouble or anything."

Mrs. Novak gave him a knowing look. "You and Cassie are awful similar, aren't you? Why don't you give me Mary's number and I'll give her a call? I'd sure love to have all of you for dinner at some point."

Dean dug around in his bag for a scrap of paper and a pencil to scribble down his mother's phone number, and Castiel took the opportunity to make his way upstairs. His parents would have no reason to hold Dean hostage if he wasn't also present. At least, he hoped so.

After a few more seconds, Castiel started planning his elaborate rescue mission, but before he had to do anything Dean had finally joined him upstairs.

He plopped his bag on the ground and closed the door gently behind him. He let out a heavy sigh, letting his shoulders droop.

"So," Castiel started. "Still think my parents hate you?" Castiel pulled his bag into his bed and started digging around for his English notes.

Dean rolled his eyes as Castiel chuckled. "They'd have every right to if they did."

Castiel groaned as he let the notebook fall into his lap. "Not true, and you know that."

Dean didn't respond. Instead he knelt down and dug a textbook out of his bag before he sat down on the floor near Castiel's bed. Castiel cast a sideways glance at him.

"I don't bite, Dean. You can… sit up here with me."

Dean started where he sat, pausing where he'd been flipping through pages in his textbook. He looked up at Castiel, and Castiel could have sworn a light blush was painting the other's cheeks.

"Uh, are you sure? I don't mind—"

"Get up here, idiot."

Dean hesitated for a few more seconds before he decided to stand up and kick his shoes off. He climbed onto the foot of Castiel's bed and crossed his legs, resting the book gently on his lap.

"Is there anything you wanted to go over first?" Dean asked, skimming over marked passages.

They spend the next few hours bouncing story synopses and sentence components back and forth. Eventually, Castiel's mother knocked on the door, letting Dean know that his mom was fine with him having dinner with the Novaks that evening as long as he was home by 9.

Around 4 in the afternoon, Castiel was the first one to give up studying, dumping his notebooks to the floor as he collapsed onto his pillows. He let out an annoyed sigh, throwing an arm over his eyes. Dean tried to ignore the small sliver of skin that was peeking out from underneath Castiel's shirt, burning his gaze into the passage he'd been re-reading.

"Come on Dean," Castiel groaned. "We've been studying for _hours_ , let's take a break."

Dean couldn't help his laugh. "Aren't you supposed to be the responsible one, Cas?"

Castiel feigned offense, lightly gasping and placing a hand over his chest. "I am plenty responsible, Winchester. I don't cram for midterms, unlike some of the people present here today."

Dean retaliated by playfully swatting Castiel's legs off the bed, causing him to almost tumble completely off.

"Asshole," he muttered, getting up and crossing the room to dig through his bookshelf. "I think the only multiplayer game I've got these days is Smash Bros. That work for you?"

Dean finally closed the textbook, letting it fall to the floor. "Yeah, sure. As long as you're okay with getting your ass kicked."

Castiel smirked. "Tough talk, Winchester. Loser owes the winner $20?"

Dean snickered. "Oh, you're _on_."

The first few games resulted in the both of them losing to NPCs, because for all their smack talk, neither of them had played the game in months at least.

In the end, though it was Dean who ended up owing Castiel $20.

Dean shoved Castiel out of his seat as he celebrated his [slim] victory, and then the two of them were called down for dinner.

As nervous as Dean was to be eating dinner with Castiel's parents, it actually went very well. Apparently Castiel's mother had done a _lot_ of catching up with Dean's mom, so they knew all about what had gone down between Dean's parents. Thankfully, though, all Castiel's parents had to say on the matter was how much they loved Dean, and they were glad that he, his brother, and his mom were back in the neighborhood after being away for so long.

Dean had attempted to help clean up after dinner, but Castiel's parents kindly refused. So, he opted to head upstairs and pack up his things and slip his shoes on before waiting awkwardly in the living room for the ride home that Castiel's father had kindly offered. And by offered, Dean means that Castiel's father would not take no as an acceptable answer.

When they arrived at Dean's house, Castiel and his father bid him a goodnight before he hopped out of the car. He waved sheepishly at the two of them until they were out of sight before turning to walk to his house. He was greeted by a crash in the kitchen, followed by a frustrated groan from Sam.

Dean chuckled. _Can't believe that kid is still so bad at doing dishes_.

He waltzed into the kitchen to find Sam holding a dustpan while Dean's mom swept up broken pieces of a plate.

"What are you going to do when you're an adult and still don't know how to clean dishes, Sammy?" Dean teased, leaning against the entryway.

Sam only stuck out his tongue in response. Dean shook his head, unable to shake the smile from his face as he turned to head upstairs to his room so he could drop off his bag. He kicked off his shoes and flopped on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

 _Today was so nice_ … he thought to himself. It was just like when he and Castiel were kids. Hanging out all day, playing video games _so badly_ , getting a ride home from one of Castiel's parents.

And it was even better, because he didn't come home to his parents arguing. He came home to a small, happy family full of people that _only_ loved each other.

Before he knew it, he was drifting off into a peaceful sleep.


End file.
